Comparison of the yield of indirect hemagglutination reaction and complement fixation reaction in the diagnosis of neurocysticercosis

Two variations of an indirect hemagglutination test (IHAT) and a complement fixation test (CFT) for the diagnosis of human cysticercosis were compared and evaluated. For the IHAT, a cysticerci crude total saline extract (SE) and a cysticerci lyophylized and delipidized veronal bicarbonate saline buffer (VBS) extract were used, comparing their diagnosis yieldings with that of a CFT in 57 confirmed cysticercosis patients: 45 serum samples and 32 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Sera and CSF from 29 patients with other neurological diseases and 25 sera from healthy volunteers were also compared. Both types of methods presented an overall average concordance of 91.5% and 97.0% with CSF and sera respectively. With respect to the sensitivity observed with CFT was 85.2% and 93.3% for CSF and sera, whereas that of IHAT was 96.9% in CSF and 97.8% in sera, when SE antigen was used; with the VBS antigen for IHAT 96.9% and 95.6% were detected in CSF and sera respectively. In order to determine the specificity of the IHAT, besides the study in healthy volunteers, in patients with other neurological diseases and in 156 serum samples from individuals with other parasitoses, such as hydatidosis (43), trichinosis (56), fascioliasis (31) and Chagas' disease (26) were also tested. A high reactivity with the hydatidosis group was found. The specificity, using a titre > or = 1:16 as a diagnostic value and without considering hydatidic sera was 99.4% for RHAI (SE), 100.0% for RHAI (VBS). The use of IHAT and CFT in diagnosis of human cysticercosis is discussed.     

New complement fixation test with peroxidase-labeled complement Clq for direct and quantitative determination of antibodies to herpes simplex virus

An enzyme-labeled complement fixation (ELISA-CF) test for the direct and quantitative determination of complement fixing (CF) antibodies has been developed. This paper described the introduction of the ELISA-CF test that used peroxidase-labeled Clq component of complement to detect CF antibodies which had reacted with herpes simplex virus (HSV), as a virus model. Equal volumes of heat-inactivated serum and the peroxidase-labeled Clq (P*-Clq) were simultaneously added to wells of microplates which had been coated with HSV CF antigen or with cell control antigen. The enzymatic activities of P*-Clq bound to the immune complex were determined photometrically. The ELISA-CF test allows processing of serum specimens in a 3-hr operation, with procedural simplicity and increased specificity and sensitivity compared with the conventional CF test.     

Studies on the mechanism determining the course of nerve fibers in tissue culture

Cell and Tissue Research -