Mgm. Teixeira et al., DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF AN ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOTRANSFER BLOT TECHNIQUE FOR SERODIAGNOSIS OF CHAGAS-DISEASE, Tropical medicine and parasitology, 45(4), 1994, pp. 308-312
An enzyme linked immunoelectrotransfer blot technique (EITB) was devel
oped and evaluated for the serodiagnosis of Chagas' disease. EITB stri
ps were prepared using Trypansoma cruzi (Y strain) epimastigotes lysat
e. Evaluation was performed with 235 serum samples collected from indi
viduals living in an endemic area for Chagas' disease. Among those sam
ples, 160 were serological positive in three conventional tests for T.
cruzi and 75 were negative. The specificity was determined using 37 s
erum samples from patients with other infectious diseases. The EITB te
st showed sensitivity of 99.3% and specificity of 100% when a positive
reaction was defined as the presence of 3 bands from a group of 7 (14
, 19, 27, 30, 34, 37 and 75), a negative reaction was defined as the a
bsence of 6 of the 7 bands, and an indeterminate reaction as the prese
nce of two of the 7 bands.