Diagnosis of dengue infection by detecting specific immunoglobulin M antibodies in saliva samples

• Published in: Journal of virological methods 1999, Vol.77 (1), p.81-86
• Main Authors: Artimos de Oliveira, Solange, Rodrigues, CláudiaValériaN, Camacho, LuizAntonioB, Miagostovich, MarizeP, Araújo, ElianeS.M, Nogueira, RitaMariaR
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Antibodies, Viral - analysis; Antibodies, Viral - blood; Arboviroses; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Dengue - diagnosis; Dengue fever; Dengue fevers; Dengue virus; Dengue Virus - immunology; Enzyme immunoassay; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay - methods; Feasibility Studies; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human viral diseases; Humans; Immunoenzyme Techniques; Immunoglobulin G - analysis; Immunoglobulin M; Immunoglobulin M - analysis; Infectious diseases; Medical sciences; Microbiology; Saliva - virology; Salivary antibody; Sensitivity and Specificity; Techniques used in virology; Tropical medicine; Tropical viral diseases; Viral diseases; Virology
• ISSN: 0166-0934; 1879-0984
• DOI: 10.1016/S0166-0934(98)00139-6

To investigate whether saliva could be used for diagnosis of recent dengue, serum and saliva samples were collected simultaneously from patients with suspected dengue infection. Sera (1:10 dilution) and saliva (undiluted) were tested by using an IgM capture enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (MAC-ELISA) with minor modifications (serum and saliva absorption for 3 h at 37°C). The quality of saliva was evaluated by determining the IgG total concentration (enzyme immunoassay) which ranged from 2.7 to >50 mg/l. Recent dengue infection was confirmed in 38 cases. Forty-six serum and saliva specimens were collected from these patients 1–30 days after the onset of symptoms. IgM was detected in 65.8% saliva samples. High rate of positivity (>80%) was observed for the saliva samples collected ≥5 days after the onset of the disease. Fifty serum and saliva samples from other 32 patients with rash diseases were also tested and all the specimens were unreactive by MAC-ELISA. These results indicate that saliva may be a convenient non-invasive alternative to serum for diagnosis of recent dengue fever infection, especially for epidemiological studies during outbreaks of the disease.