Sensitivity and specificity of Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays in Brucellosis

Abstract

Background: Brucellosis is a public health problem in the world. Several diagnostic tests have been proposed for the diagnosis of brucellosis, including Standard Agglutination Test (SAT) and Coombs anti-brucella tests. However these tests does not discriminate the immunoglobulin classes of this condition. The aim of current study was to explore the sensitivity and specificity of Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) IgG and IgM tests in patients with Brucella bacteremia. Material and Methods: Thirty-one patients with clinical features suggestive of Brucellosis and were positive blood cultures for Brucella species, were enrolled. Brucella enzyme linked immunosorbent assay test determining the Brucella specific IgG and IgM, antibodies was utilized for the diagnosis of Brucellosis. Results: 31 patients including 18male (52.2%) and 13 female (47.8%) were used for IgG and IgM tests. 23 subjects had a history of dairy consumption. In 6subjects (20.3%) the history of brucellosis in family was positive.2 subjects had contact with cattles. Our data showed that the sensitivity, specificity, PVP and PVN of IgMwere100, 72.7,100 and 83.3%, while these values in IgG test were 100, 63.3, 86.9, 100% respectively. Conclusion: Our findings further confirmed that diagnostic value of ELISA based IgG and IgM with high sensitivity, compared to agglutination test, suggesting its value as a simple, rapid, sensitive and reliable method for the diagnosis of brucellosis.