Serodiagnosis of Chronic and Acute Chagas' Disease with Trypanosoma cruzi Recombinant Proteins: Results of a Collaborative Study in Six Latin American Countries

Abstract

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to diagnose Chagas' disease by a serological test was performed with Trypanosoma cruzi recombinant antigens (JL8, MAP, and TcPo). High sensitivity (99.4%) and specificity (99.3%) were obtained when JL8 was combined with MAP (JM) and tested with 150 serum samples from chagasic and 142 nonchagasic individuals. Moreover, JM also diagnosed 84.2% of patients in the acute phase of T. cruzi infection.

Advances in Serological Diagnosis of Chagas' Disease by Using Recombinant Proteins

“…(Umezawa et al, 2003) Soon after, the reactivity of individual antigens vs. antigen mixtures was systematically assessed by ELISA. (Umezawa et al, 2004) This study confirmed that the results obtained with recombinant protein mixtures led to higher media values of optical densities, ODs, than the results produced when using the individual recombinant proteins. Moreover, sera rendering low ODs when examined with individual recombinant proteins produced higher ODs outcomes when using the protein mixtures.…”

“…The diagnostic problems arising from serology deficient specificity, as well as the deprived reagents standardization, can be resolved through the use of defined antigens, such as the proteins obtained by molecular biology technology procedures. (Saez-Alquezar et al, 2000;Umezawa et al, 2003;Umezawa et al, 2004;Aguirre et al, 2006) The following sections will be focused in this issue and the most important contributions that several research groups have recently made.…”

“…Moncayo & Luquetti, 1990;Peralta et al, 1994) Consequently, most of these proteins have been evaluated not only alone and independently from others, but also together as part of mixtures or as fusion proteins, carrying several recombinant epitopes. (Umezawa et al, 1999;Umezawa et al, 2004;Camussone et al, 2009;Foti et al, 2009) Accordingly, a multicenter study evaluating 6 recombinant proteins separately with a serum panel composed by sera from patients of several countries, described that using the set of results of the 6 proteins together had yield a sensitivity and specificity compatible with the reference assays. (Umezawa et al, 1999) Later, the same group evaluated the mixture of the 6 proteins, supporting the use of the mixture to reach the same sensitivity and specificity.…”

Performance levels of four Latin American laboratories for the serodiagnosis of Chagas disease in Mexican sera samples

“…The serological tests currently in use are indirect immunofluorescence (IIF), indirect hemagglutination (IHA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). They regularly use crude antigenic T. cruzi preparations or semipurified fractions and more recently these tests have used recombinant antigens (Oeleman et al 1998, Luquetti et al 2003, Umezawa et al 2004, Cooley et al 2008. Although many screening methods and sources of antigens have been evaluated, sensitivity and specificity levels have seldom reached 100%.…”

I Diretriz Latino-Americana para o Diagnóstico e Tratamento da Cardiopatia Chagásica

“…In general, CD control is the responsibility of public health systems, and, to a lesser extent, of private health systems, particularly private blood banks. In Uruguay and Brazil 417 , once controlled the major vector and blood banks, the disease transmission has decreased to minimal levels in the past decades; occasional cases of congenital transmission are currently reported, along with unpredictable outbreaks of oral transmission 21 . The consolidation of control in those countries will depend on the continuity of sustained surveillance programs 81,413 .…”