Value of Western blotting in the clinical following-up of canine Leishmaniasis

Specific serum antibody levels in Leishmania infantum-infected dogs treated with a combination of glucantime and allopurinol were estimated by indirec t immunofluorescence and Western blotting. The sensitivity of Western blot was greater than that obtained with immunofluorescence titration. In genera l, both diagnostic methods concurred with the post-treatment clinical statu s of the animals. Clinical improvement of successfully treated dogs was rel ated to lower immunofluorescence titers and simpler and/or less reactive im munodetection patterns in Western blotting. The recognition, by infected do gs, of certain low molecular weight antigens, particularly one of approxima tely 26 kDa, was restricted to pretreatment samples and a single animal in relapse thus apparently constituting an active infection marker.