Use of mycelial-phase Sporothrix schenckii exoantigens in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for diagnosis of sporotrichosis by antibody detection

Rodrigo Almeida-Paes, Monique A. Pimenta, Claudia Vera Pizzini, Paulo Cezar F. Monteiro, José Mauro Peralta, Joshua D. Nosanchuk, Rosely Maria Zancopé-Oliveira

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

54 Scopus citations

Abstract

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for specific antibody detection in serum specimens of patients with sporotrichosis. The assay was made with mycelial-phase Sporothrix schenckii exoantigens and was tested against 90 sera from patients with different clinical forms of sporotrichosis. Potential cross-reactions were analyzed with 72 heterologous sera from patients with paracoccidioidomycosis, cryptococcosis, aspergillosis, histoplasmosis, tuberculosis, and American tegumentary leishmaniasis, as well as 76 sera from healthy controls. We found a sensitivity of 97% and a specificity of 89% in this assay. Some cross-reactions were seen, as observed in other immunoassays for the diagnosis of sporotrichosis. The ELISA appears to be especially useful for cutaneous forms of disease, since these are not promptly diagnosed with available immunoprecipitation or agglutination techniques. These results suggest that the ELISA using mycelial-phase S. schenckii exoantigens is a very sensitive diagnostic tool for the serodiagnosis of sporotrichosis and can be used in conjunction with conventional methods of diagnosis, particularly in cases where cross-reactions or false-positive results are experienced with the serodiagnosis.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)244-249
Number of pages6
JournalClinical and Vaccine Immunology
Volume14
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2007

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Immunology and Allergy
  • Immunology
  • Clinical Biochemistry
  • Microbiology (medical)

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