Serologic diagnosis of human Taenia solium cysticercosis by using recombinant and synthetic antigens in QuickELISA

Abstract

Diagnosis of Taenia solium cysticercosis is an important component in the control and elimination of cysticercosis and taeniasis. New detection assays using recombinant and synthetic antigens originating from the lentil lectin-purified glycoproteins (LLGPs) of T. solium cysticerci were developed in a QuickELISA™ format. We analyzed a panel of 474 serum samples composed of 108 serum samples from donors with two or more viable cysts, 252 serum samples from persons with other parasitic infections, and 114 serum samples from persons with no documented illnesses. The sensitivities and specificities of T24H QuickELISA™, GP50 QuickELISA™, and Ts18var1 QuickELISA™ were 96.3% and 99.2%, 93.5% and 98.6%, and 89.8% and 96.4%, respectively, for detecting cases with multiple, viable cysts. T 24H QuickELISA™ performs best among the three assays, and has sensitivity and specificity values comparable to those of the LLGP enzyme-linked immunosorbent blot. The QuickELISA™ are simple, rapid quantitative methods for detecting antibodies specific for T. solium cysticerci antigens.