This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Doungchawee, G.
Right arrow Articles by Haake, D. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Doungchawee, G.
Right arrow Articles by Haake, D. A.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, March 2008, p. 492-498, Vol. 15, No. 3
1071-412X/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CVI.00152-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Early Diagnosis of Leptospirosis by Immunoglobulin M Immunoblot Testing{triangledown}

Galayanee Doungchawee,1* Uraiwan Kositanont,2 Anuchai Niwetpathomwat,1 Tasanee Inwisai,1 Plyyonk Sagarasaeranee,3 and David A. Haake4,5

Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand,1 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10700, Thailand,2 Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Nonthaburi, Thailand,3 Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California 90073,4 Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California 900955

Received 30 March 2007/ Returned for modification 25 June 2007/ Accepted 6 November 2007

There is an urgent need for the development of serodiagnostic approaches with improved sensitivity for patients with acute leptospirosis. Immunoblots were performed on 188 sera collected from 74 patients with laboratory-confirmed early leptospiral infection to detect immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies to antigens pooled from 10 leptospiral strains prevalent in Thailand. Sera from patients with other febrile diseases served as controls. IgM reactivity to seven distinct antigens, with apparent molecular masses of 14 to 18, 19 to 23, 24 to 30, 32, 35/36, 37, and 41/42 kDa, was observed. The low-molecular-mass 14- to 18-kDa band was the most frequently detected antigen, being recognized in sera from 82.4% of patients during the first 3 days after the onset of symptoms. We evaluated the accuracy of the IgM immunoblot (IgM-IB) test by using reactivity to the 14- to 18-kDa band and/or at least two bands among the 19- to 23-, 24- to 30-, 32-, 35/36-, 37-, and 41/42-kDa antigens as the diagnostic criterion. The sensitivities of the IgM-IB test and the microscopic agglutination test (MAT) were 88.2% and 2.0%, respectively, with sera from patients 1 to 3 days after the onset of symptoms. In contrast, the IgM-IB test was positive with only 2/48 (4.2%) sera from patients with other febrile illnesses. The high sensitivity and specificity of the IgM-IB test for acute leptospirosis would provide greatly improved diagnostic accuracy for identification of patients who would benefit from early antibiotic intervention. In addition, the antigens identified by the IgM-IB test may serve as components of a rapid, accurate, point-of-care diagnostic test for early leptospirosis.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand. Phone: 662-201 5564. Fax: 662-216 8256. E-mail: scgdu{at}mahidol.ac.th

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 9 January 2008.

Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, March 2008, p. 492-498, Vol. 15, No. 3
1071-412X/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CVI.00152-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Oliveira, T. R., Longhi, M. T., de Morais, Z. M., Romero, E. C., Blanco, R. M., Kirchgatter, K., Vasconcellos, S. A., Nascimento, A. L. T. O. (2008). Evaluation of Leptospiral Recombinant Antigens MPL17 and MPL21 for Serological Diagnosis of Leptospirosis by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays. CVI 15: 1715-1722 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»