Abstract
Serodiagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) due to Leishmania donovani by using crude parasite antigen is complicated in many endemic areas because of cross-reactions with sera from humans with Chagas' disease. We used affinity-purified parasite proteins to develop a direct dot-blot assay for VL. Double-blind tests were carried out on sera from 40 patients with well-documented VL, from controls in endemic areas, and from patients with other diseases. Using gp70-2, 36 (90.0%) of 40 sera from patients with kala azar were correctly diagnosed; 1 (1.2%) of 86 sera from patients without kala azar was misdiagnosed. With dp72, 21 (100%) of 21 sera from patients with VL were correctly identified; 5 (7.0%) of 71 negative sera were misdiagnosed. None of the 18 sera from patients with Chagas' disease reacted positively against gp70-2. Our assay is rapid, simple, and specific and represents a new method for reliably diagnosing and monitoring VL.
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