New enzyme-linked immunoassay for the detection of specific antibodies against multiple Leptospira serogroups in bovine sera

• Published in: Comparative immunology, microbiology and infectious diseases microbiology and infectious diseases, 2021-04, Vol.75, p.101609-101609, Article 101609
• Main Authors: Martinez, Mara L., Rodriguez, Marcelo A., Irazu, Lucía E., Romero, Graciela N., Saraullo, Vanina R., Watanabe, Olivia, Hamer, Micaela, Grüne Loffler, Sylvia, Samartino, Luis E., Brihuega, Bibiana F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abortion; Agglutination; Antibodies; Bovine; Calves; Cattle production; Cross-reaction; Diagnosis; Diarrhea; Elisa; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Enzymes; IgG; Immunoassay; Immunoglobulin G; Leptospira; Leptospirosis; Performance evaluation; Public health; Sensitivity; Specificity; Zoonoses
• ISSN: 0147-9571; 1878-1667
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cimid.2021.101609

•A sonicated leptospira interrogans -based ELISA was developed for the detection of bovine antibodies against multiple leptospira serogroups.•ELISA was highly sensitive (85.6 %) and highly specificity (83.5 %)•ELISA sufficiently sensitive test to be used as an initial screening for the detection of bovine antibodies to multiple leptospira serogroups. Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease with worldwide endemicity in Argentina, it is a significant public health problem in low-income populations. Bovine leptospirosis is a serious economic problem for cattle production, causing abortions, reduced milk yield, mortality in calves and decreased daily weight gain. We developed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with sonicated Leptospira interrogans serogroup Icterohaemorrhagiae serovar Copenhageni M 20. We evaluated its performance for the detection of specific antibodies against multiple Leptospira serogroups in bovine. The microscopic agglutination test (MAT) was used as the gold standard. The performance of this ELISA was evaluated with a panel of sera (118 MAT confirmed positive and 97 MAT negative). The overall sensitivity was close to 85.6 % and the specificity was 83.5 %, according to the MAT reference method. Analytical specificity of the IgG-ELISA was evaluated using 50 bovine serum samples from animals showing serum antibodies against other pathogens that cause abortion in bovine, such as Brucella sp., Neospora sp. and Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD), and no cross-reaction was observed. This IgG-ELISA can be an alternative to the MAT for diagnosis of leptospiral infection in bovine.