Abstract
The disappearance of lytic, protective antibodies (Abs) from the serum of patients with Chagas disease is accepted as a reliable indicator of parasitological cure. The efficiency of a chemiluminescent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay based on a purified, trypomastigote-derived glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored mucin antigen for the serologic detection of lytic Abs against Trypanosoma cruzi was evaluated in a nonendemic setting using a panel of 92 positive and 58 negative human sera. The technique proved to be highly sensitive {100%; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 96-100} and specific (98.3%; 95% CI = 90.7-99.7), with a kappa score of 0.99. Therefore, this assay can be used to detect active T. cruzi infection and to monitor trypanosomicidal treatment.
Highlights
American trypanosomiasis, or Chagas disease, is a chronic infection caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi
Most infected individuals remain asymptomatic for life, 20-35% of patients develop severe chronic Chagas disease over a period of 10-30 years that is characterised by cardiac and/or gastrointestinal tract disorders
We describe the use of a chemiluminescent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (CL-ELISA) for the serodiagnosis of chagasic infection (Almeida et al 1997) in our facilities at the Barcelona Centre for International Health Research
Summary
Chagas disease, is a chronic infection caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. The assay combines the use of a highly specific antigen from the infective (trypomastigote) form of the parasite with a highly sensitive procedure for the detection of positive reactions and allows the detection of lytic anti-α-Gal Abs in the serum of Chagas disease patients (Andrade et al 1996, 2004, Almeida et al 1997, de Marchi et al 2011).
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