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Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, November 2001, p. 1220-1224, Vol. 8, No. 6
Kala-Azar Medical Research Center, Department
of Medicine, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu
University, Varanasi-221005, India
Received 8 March 2001/Returned for modification 17 July
2001/Accepted 13 September 2001
The recombinant product (rK39) of the 39-amino-acid repeats
encoded by a kinesin-like protein-encoding gene of Leishmania chagasi was evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
(ELISA) for diagnostic potential and the ability to predict the
response to therapy in Indian kala-azar or visceral leishmaniasis (VL); we also compared its performance with that of crude soluble antigen (CSA). At the diagnosis of VL, the anti-rK39 antibody titer was 59-fold higher than the anti-CSA antibody titer. With successful therapy, antibody titers declined steeply at the end of treatment and
during follow-up. In contrast, patients who relapsed showed increased
titers of antibodies to rK39. The extremely high levels of
anti-rK39 antibodies in VL cases suggest the application of rK39 for
sensitive and specific serodiagnosis, and rK39 ELISA is also valuable
in monitoring drug therapy and detecting relapse of the disease.
1071-412X/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.8.6.1220-1224.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for Recombinant
K39 Antigen in Diagnosis and Prognosis of Indian Visceral
Leishmaniasis
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: 6, S.K. Gupta
Nagar, Lanka, Varanasi-221005, India. Phone: 91-542-367 795. Fax:
91-542-368912. E-mail: shyams{at}sancharnet.in.
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