↓ Skip to main content

Rapid detection of human and canine visceral leishmaniasis: Assessment of a latex agglutination test based on the A2 antigen from amastigote forms of Leishmania infantum

Overview of attention for article published in Experimental Parasitology, December 2012
Altmetric Badge

Mentioned by

twitter
1 X user

Citations

dimensions_citation
35 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
72 Mendeley
You are seeing a free-to-access but limited selection of the activity Altmetric has collected about this research output. Click here to find out more.
Title
Rapid detection of human and canine visceral leishmaniasis: Assessment of a latex agglutination test based on the A2 antigen from amastigote forms of Leishmania infantum
Published in
Experimental Parasitology, December 2012
DOI 10.1016/j.exppara.2012.12.002
Pubmed ID
Authors

Behnaz Akhoundi, Mehdi Mohebali, Saeedeh Shojaee, Mahmoud Jalali, Bahram Kazemi, Mojgan Bandehpour, Hossein Keshavarz, Gholam Hossein Edrissian, Mohammad Bagher Eslami, Hossein Malekafzali, Ameneh Kouchaki

Abstract

The diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in humans and animal reservoir hosts is difficult, particularly in rural areas where the disease is endemic and laboratory facilities are limited. This study aimed to develop a latex agglutination test (LAT) for the rapid detection of anti-Leishmania antibodies against the A2 antigen derived from the amastigote form as well as those against crude antigens derived from the promastigote form of an Iranian strain of Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum. The A2 antigen (42-100 kDa) was prepared from the amastigote form of L. infantum, purified with electroelution and compared with the crude antigen from the promastigote form of L. infantum. Both antigens showed appropriate intensity reactions, were selected using dot blotting of positive and negative pooled sera and used to sensitize 0.9-μm latex beads. The tests were carried out on sera from 43 symptomatic, human patients with VL confirmed by parasitological examination and direct agglutination test (DAT), 30 healthy controls and 32 patients with other infections but without VL. Canine sera were collected from 63 domestic dogs with VL confirmed using parasitological examinations and DAT and 31 healthy dogs from areas non-endemic for VL. Compared with the controls, human sera from DAT-confirmed patients yielded a sensitivity of 88.4% (95% CI, 82.1-94.5%) and specificity of 93.5% (95% CI, 87.0-99.7%) on A2-LAT (amastigote) when 1:3200 was used as the cut-off titre. A good degree of agreement was found between A2-LAT and DAT (0.914). LAT required 3-5 min to complete, versus the 12-18 h needed for DAT. Compared with the controls, A2-LAT of canine sera from DAT-confirmed cases yielded a sensitivity of 95.2% (95% CI, 95.0-95.4%) and specificity of 100% (95% CI 100%) when 1:320 was used as the cut-off titre. A good degree of agreement was found between A2-LAT and DAT (0.968). Similarly, the sensitivity and specificity of Pro.-LAT (promastigote) was calculated to be 88.4% and 91.9%, respectively for human sera and 96.8% and 90.3%, respectively for canine sera. No statistically significant differences were observed between A2-LAT and Pro.-LAT for the detection of human and canine L. infantum infections. In conclusion, A2-LAT and Pro.-LAT could be used in parallel to screen for L. infantum infections in humans and dogs in areas endemic for VL in Iran.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profile of 1 X user who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 72 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United Kingdom 1 1%
Colombia 1 1%
Sri Lanka 1 1%
Brazil 1 1%
Unknown 68 94%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 14 19%
Student > Ph. D. Student 9 13%
Researcher 8 11%
Other 7 10%
Student > Bachelor 6 8%
Other 13 18%
Unknown 15 21%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 11 15%
Medicine and Dentistry 10 14%
Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine 7 10%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 6 8%
Immunology and Microbiology 5 7%
Other 13 18%
Unknown 20 28%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 07 January 2013.
All research outputs
#22,758,309
of 25,373,627 outputs
Outputs from Experimental Parasitology
#1,579
of 1,826 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#257,953
of 288,391 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Experimental Parasitology
#21
of 22 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,373,627 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,826 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 2.9. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 288,391 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 22 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.