J Med Microbiol NEW Faster Access
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Lucero, N. E.
Right arrow Articles by Nielsen, K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Lucero, N. E.
Right arrow Articles by Nielsen, K.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Lucero, N. E.
Right arrow Articles by Nielsen, K.
J Med Microbiol 52 (2003), 883-887; DOI: 10.1099/jmm.0.05217-0
© 2003 Society for General Microbiology
ISSN 0022-2615

Fluorescence polarization assay for diagnosis of human brucellosis

Nidia E. Lucero1, Gabriela I. Escobar1, Sandra M. Ayala1, Patricia Silva Paulo2 and Klaus Nielsen3

1Brucellosis Laboratory, Administración Nacional de Laboratorios e Institutos de Salud ‘Dr C. G. Malbrán', Avda. Velez Sarsfield 563, 1281 Buenos Aires, Argentina 2Comisión Nacional de Energia Atómica, Centro Atómico de Ezeiza, Buenos Aires, Argentina 3Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Animal Diseases Research Institute, Nepean, Ontario, Canada K2H 8P9

Correspondence Nidia E. Lucero nidia{at}elsitio.net

Received February 10, 2003
Accepted July 7, 2003

Fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPA) uses molecular rotational properties to measure antibody binding to antigen directly. The potential use of this method was assessed in comparison to a competitive enzyme immunoassay (CELISA) and conventional serological tests for the diagnosis of brucellosis on a total of 587 human sera. Based on 340 sera from asymptomatic blood donors with no evidence of brucellosis, the specificity of the FPA was 97.9 % using a cut-off value of 72 mP. Sera from Brucella-infected patients (11 Brucella melitensis, 32 Brucella abortus, 32 Brucella suis and one Brucella sp.) yielded a sensitivity estimate of 96.1 %. In tests on 84 sera from suspected brucellosis patients, the FPA detected 80 cases. Of 87 sera from patients with probable infection, 15 were detected by both CELISA and FPA, three by CELISA only and four by FPA only. The discrepancies in both groups involved sera with low, declining titres. The FPA uses a sample of 40 µl serum, takes about 5 min to complete and has been demonstrated to be accurate for the detection of antibodies to B. abortus, B. melitensis and B. suis and for identifying patients suffering relapses. Because of the ease of the procedure, it could be readily adopted for use in clinical laboratories and blood banks.

Abbreviations: CELISA, competitive ELISA; FPA, fluorescence polarization assay.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
INT J SYST EVOL MICROBIOL J MED MICROBIOL MICROBIOLOGY J GEN VIROL ALL SGM JOURNALS
Copyright © 2003 Society for General Microbiology.