DETECTION OF PARAGONIMUS-HETEROTREMUS IN EXPERIMENTALLY INFECTED CAT FECES BY ANTIGEN CAPTURE ELISA AND BY DNA HYBRIDIZATION

An antigen capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (antigen capture- ELISA) and DNA hybridization technique were developed and evaluated fo r their application in the detection of Paragonimus heterotremus infec tion in experimentally infected cars. An IgG fraction prepared from se rum of a rabbit immunized with P. heterotremus excretory-secretory (ES ) products was used as the capture antibody. An IgG, monoclonal antibo dy specific to the 22- and 31.5-kDa ES products of P. heterotremus was used as the antigen probe. As little as 0.24 ng of the ES products co uld be detected by this technique. A specific P. heterotremus DNA prob e derived from the P. heterotremus genomic DNA library containing 1,50 0 base pairs was used in a dot-blot hybridization assay for the detect ion of parasite DNA. The radioactively labeled probe could detect DNA released from as few as 2 P. heterotremus eggs. Both ELISA and DNA hyb ridization were found to have 100% specificity, with sensitivities of 73.7% and 100%, respectively.