Abstract
Microscopic identification of Entameba histolytica in stool is insensitive to differentiate this pathogenic ameba from morphologically identical Entameba dispar. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method was applied for diagnosing amebiasis by detection of E. histolytica antibody. A total of 258 sample sera were analyzed from five different groups including amebiasis patients, E. histolytica/E. dispar asymptomatic cyst carriers, patients clinically presumed to have intestinal and extra-intestinal amebiasis and healthy control. From 51 E. histolytica/E. dispar cysts passers identified by microscopy and culture, a positive anti-amebic antibody was measured only for eight specimens (15.6%) and 43 cyst carriers showed an absorbance less than cut-off likely due to E. dispar infection. These findings suggest usefulness of ELISA method in differentiation of Entameba species, in clinical laboratories less equipped with biological and biochemical methods or antigen capture kits.
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Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge Dr. Seiki Kobayashi, Department of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, School of Medicine, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan for providing positive E. histolytica antibody sera. We thank Dr. Fazel Shokri and S. Farnia, Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services for assisting in the ELISA method. We also thank Dr. Seyed Mahmoud Sadjjadi, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences and Health Services for his helpful comments on the manuscript. This survey was supported by School of Public Health and Institute of Public Health Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Tehran, Iran.
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Haghighi, A., Rezaeian, M. Detection of serum antibody to Entameba histolytica in various population samples of amebic infection using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Parasitol Res 97, 209–212 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-005-1418-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-005-1418-3