Serodiagnosis of Babesia equi infection–a comparison of Dot-ELISA, complement fixation test and capillary tube agglutination test.
Abstract: The present study aimed to develop Dot-ELISA, complement fixation test (CFT) and capillary tube agglutination test (CAT) for serodiagnosis of Babesia equi infection and to compare their sensitivity with each other. For this study, sequential serum samples were collected from four donkeys experimentally infected with B. equi up to 90 days post infection (P.I.). B. equi antigen was prepared from the blood of a donkey showing more than 80% parasitaemia. Dot-ELISA, CF and CA tests were standardized as per the standard method. While performing CFT, it was observed that CFT standardized for the donkey system could not be applied to the horse system, and different units of the same antigen and complement were required for each. Dot-ELISA detected antibodies from 3-6 days P.I. onwards, whereas CF and CA tests could detect antibodies from the 6th day P.I. indicating that Dot-ELISA is the more sensitive. The efficacy of these three tests was also determined by testing 211 field serum samples of apparently healthy horses. By Dot-ELISA 49.76%, by CAT 42.18% and by CFT 27.86% of the serum samples were found positive. As the results of Dot-ELISA and CAT are comparable, it is proposed that CAT may be used as a screening test.
Publication Date: 1997-05-01 PubMed ID: 9195726DOI: 10.1016/s0304-4017(96)01124-7Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Comparative Study
- Journal Article
- Research Support
- Non-U.S. Gov't
Summary
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The study aims to develop and compare three different methods (Dot-ELISA, complement fixation test, and capillary tube agglutination test) for diagnosing Babesia equi infection in donkeys, and highlights Dot-ELISA as the most sensitive method.
Research Context
- Babesia equi is a parasitic infection which commonly affects equines such as horses and donkeys. This study focuses on the development of testing methods for diagnosing the infection.
- The three testing methods compared in the study are Dot-ELISA, complement fixation test (CFT) and capillary tube agglutination test (CAT). These methods are used to detect if the animal’s immune system has produced antibodies against the B. equi infection.
Research Methodology
- The B. equi antigen was prepared from the blood of an infected donkey displaying over 80% parasitaemia, or the presence of parasites in the blood.
- Throughout the study, sequential serum samples were collected from four experimentally infected donkeys up to 90 days after the infection.
- The three testing methods were standardized according to standard methods, ensuring they all followed the same procedure.
Research Findings
- The researchers found that the complement fixation test, when standardized for donkeys, couldn’t be used for testing in horses – indicating unique requirements for different species.
- Among the three methods, Dot-ELISA was able to detect antibodies from 3-6 days post infection, outpacing the other two tests, which could only detect antibodies from the 6th day post infection onwards.
- The efficacy of the tests was also verified by testing 211 serum samples from healthy horses in the field. Dot-ELISA confirmed 49.76% of the samples as positive, CAT confirmed 42.18% and CFT confirmed 27.86% as positive.
Conclusion
- The Dot-ELISA method showed the highest efficacy and sensitivity for diagnosing B. equi compared to the other testing methods. This makes it potentially more suitable for early detection of infection.
- The results of Dot-ELISA and CAT were reasonably similar, leading researchers to suggest that CAT could be used as a screening test.
Cite This Article
APA
Kumar S, Malhotra DV, Dhar S.
(1997).
Serodiagnosis of Babesia equi infection–a comparison of Dot-ELISA, complement fixation test and capillary tube agglutination test.
Vet Parasitol, 69(3-4), 171-176.
https://doi.org/10.1016/s0304-4017(96)01124-7 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- AICRP on Blood Protista, College of Veterinary Sciences, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana, India.
MeSH Terms
- Agglutination Tests
- Animals
- Antibodies, Protozoan / blood
- Babesia / immunology
- Babesia / isolation & purification
- Babesiosis / blood
- Babesiosis / diagnosis
- Complement Fixation Tests
- Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
- Equidae
- Sensitivity and Specificity
Citations
This article has been cited 1 times.- Laha R, Das M, Sen A. Morphology, epidemiology, and phylogeny of Babesia: An overview.. Trop Parasitol 2015 Jul-Dec;5(2):94-100.
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