Saliva ELISA: a method for the diagnosis of chronic Chagas disease in endemic areas

An indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was applied to saliva to detect chronic infection by Trypanosoma cruzi in humans. Saliva samples from 114 Chagas’ disease chronically infected individuals, characterized by three serological tests and clinical evaluation and from 100 healthy cont...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta tropica 1999-01, Vol.72 (1), p.31-38
Main Authors: Pinho, R.T., Pedrosa, R.C., Costa-Martins, P., Castello-Branco, L.R.R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Animals
Antibodies, Protozoan - analysis
Biological and medical sciences
Chagas Disease - diagnosis
Chagas Disease - immunology
Chagas’ disease
Chronic Disease
ELISA
Endemic Diseases
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay - methods
Human protozoal diseases
Humans
Immunoglobulin G - blood
Infectious diseases
Medical sciences
Parasitic diseases
Protozoal diseases
Saliva - immunology
Salivary IgG
Sensitivity and Specificity
Tropical medicine
Trypanosoma cruzi
Trypanosoma cruzi - immunology
Trypanosomiasis
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Summary:An indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was applied to saliva to detect chronic infection by Trypanosoma cruzi in humans. Saliva samples from 114 Chagas’ disease chronically infected individuals, characterized by three serological tests and clinical evaluation and from 100 healthy controls were tested for T. cruzi specific IgG antibodies. At dilution of 1 in 2, specific antibodies were detected in saliva samples from 103 of 114 samples from infected patients and 5 of 100 controls (sensitivity 90.4%, specificity 95%). There was no significant correlation between the antibody titre and cardiac or gastrointestinal tract disease. This assay possesses some advantages over other methods as saliva collection is non-invasive, requires no special equipment and whole saliva gave reproducible results. Although serology remains the gold standard for T. cruzi infection, these results suggest that T. cruzi specific salivary antibody detection may provide a screening diagnostic test and contribute to epidemiological studies of chronic trypanosomiasis infection in endemic areas.
ISSN:0001-706X
1873-6254
DOI:10.1016/S0001-706X(98)00075-8