Comparison of the complement fixation test and counterelectrophoresis test for the detection of antibodies in Chagas disease

Diagnosis of American trypanosomiasis (Chagas' disease) by the new complement fixation test

A new immunodiagnostic method of complement fixation was used for serodiagnosis of American trypanosomiasis; 92% sensitivity and 99% specificity were obtained, for an overall accuracy of 97%. This test can be used in field studies, obviating the use of most laboratory equipment and imported reagents; places where economic limitations hinder the use of other immunodiagnostic procedures; and in association with other tests for confirmation of the diagnosis.

Micro-counterimmunoelectrophoresis: a rapid screening technique for trypanosomiasis

A rapid and economical micro-counterimmunoelectrophoresis (MCIE) test, for antibody to trypanosome antigens, has been developed which may prove useful in trypanosomiasis surveillance. MCIE was more sensitive and more rapid than immunodiffusion (ID). Serum samples from trypanosome-infected rabbits and cattle (Nigerian and Gambian), from Kuwaiti dogs and camels, from Ivory Coast sleeping sickness patients, from Brazilian patients with Chagas's disease, plus mouse-anti-malaria sera have been tested by MCIE with Trypanosoma brucei, T. vivax, T. congolense and T. cruzi antigens. A few of the rabbit and the mice sera were also tested against Trichomonas vaginalis, Entamoeba histolytica, Plasmodium berghei or P. chabaudi antigens. Whenever possible the MCIE results were compared with parasitological or other serological tests (ID; indirect fluorescent antibody test, IFAT; enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, ELISA; complement fixation test, CFT or indirect haemagglutination test, IHAT). The MCIE test was not species specific but the homologous species reactions were more often positive than heterologous ones. Homologous species reactions, with rabbit sera, detected antibodies as early as 10 days after infection and developed more precipitin lines as the infection progressed. Trypanosomal antigens and antisera cross-reacted with those of other protozoa (E. histolytica, Tr. vaginalis, P. chabaudi, P. berghei, and Babesia sp. and Leishmania sp.) but such reactions required an antigen concentration 4 to 16 times greater than that required for homologous trypanosome reactions (a factor which might be exploited for identification of different species of trypanosome).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Counterimmunoelectrophoresis in biology and medicine

The review will initially focus on the historical development of counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIE). A part of the manuscript will be devoted to methodological considerations of CIE as well as a discussion of the antisera used. The body of the review will detail each test procedure for which CIE is applicable and discuss unique elements of technique and limits of detection, as well as clinical interpretation of results. The final section will summarize potential applications of CIE in microbiology.