Evaluation of two Taenia solium cysticercal antigenic preparations (vesicular fluid and a glycoprotein fraction with affinity for lentil lectin) for the immunodiagnosis of neurocysticercosis by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the performance of two antigenic preparations (vesicular fluid -VF and a glycoprotein fraction, LLa-Gp fraction, purified from a whole parasite extract by lentil lectin affinity chromatography) from Taenia solium cysticerci for the immunodiagnosis of neurocysticercosis. Method: Fifty-six cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples (22 from patients with neurocysticercosis and 34 from patients with other neurological disorders) and 57 serum samples (22 from patients with neurocysticercosis, 18 from patients with other infections and 17 from presumably healthy persons) were assayed for anticysticercal IgG antibodies with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: The VF ELISA showed 100% sensitivity and specificity in CSF and serum samples, whereas the sensitivity and specificity of the LLa-Gp ELISA were, respectively, 90.9% and 97.1%, with the CSF samples and 95.5% and 100% with serum samples. There was no significant difference in the sensitivity and specificity of the two antigenic preparations used to screen CSF and serum samples. Conclusion: Considering the complexity and high cost of obtaining the LLa-Gp fraction, VF could be more suitable for screening specific antibodies by ELISA in CSF and serum samples from patients with neurocysticercosis.

High prevalence of neurocysticercosis among patients with epilepsy in a tertiary care hospital of Assam, India

“…While EITB is the preferred method over ELISA, studies have described that ELISA based on cystic fluid/vesicular fluid of T. solium cysticerci is highly dependable for immunodiagnosis of NCC. [ 34 ] As determined by ELISA, 40.1% (61/152) active epilepsy patients and 49.5% (46/93) NCC patients were seropositive. The seronegativity observed during ELISA may be partly associated with the fact that the average time between acquisition of parasite and development of symptomatic infection is about 7 years, and the fact that a sizable number of calcified lesions (solitary, 22/61 and multiple, 10/32) were recorded among NCC patients, which are known to illicit minimal immune response.…”

Evaluation of cysticercus-specific IgG (total and subclasses) and IgE antibody responses in cerebrospinal fluid samples from patients with neurocysticercosis showing intrathecal production of specific IgG antibodies

“…This detection was based on an ELISA standardized with VF from T. solium cysticerci. VF appears to be suitable for antibody detection by ELISA in neurocysticercosis when compared with other cysticercal antigens 12,14,18,[25][26][27] .…”

“…The assay was done as previously described 14 . Briefly, the antigen preparation was diluted to 4 µg of protein/mL in 0.1 M carbonate-bicarbonate buffer, pH 9.5, prior to sensitizing the wells of U-bottomed ELISA plates.…”

Taeniosis and Cysticercosis

“…Although glycoproteins-EITB has 100 % specificity and an overall sensitivity of 98 %, major problems are that approximately 30 % of patients with a single brain parasite, or calcified lesions, may test negative (Wilson et al 1991) and that the T. solium genotypes showed distinct glycoprotein patterns (Sato et al 2006). Also, it is important to note the technique is very expensive, hampering its use in endemic areas (Villota et al 2003;Suzuki and Rossi 2011).The EITB was recognized as the gold standard for NCC immunodiagnosis by Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) (Greene et al 2000). Also, purified T. solium E/S antigens have been employed in ELISA and FAST-ELISA with very promising results in antibody detection of NCC (Ng and Ko 1994;Sahu et al 2009;Atluri et al 2009).…”