Immunological diagnosis of human cystic echinococcosis: utility of discriminant analysis applied to the enzyme-linked immunoelectrotransfer blot

Clin Diagn Lab Immunol. 1999 Jul;6(4):504-8. doi: 10.1128/CDLI.6.4.504-508.1999.

Abstract

An enzyme-linked immunoelectrotransfer blot for the diagnosis of human hydatid disease was performed, and the different antibody responses were analyzed by a discriminant analysis. This multivariate technique gave us, first, a selection of the most important responses against Echinococcus granulosus infection and, second, a procedure for the classification of patients into two groups: patients with hydatid disease and patients without a history of hydatid disease. This method was applied to 67 patients, 25 with active hydatid cysts (24 hepatic and 1 pulmonary) and 42 without a history of hydatid disease and was compared with the results obtained by conventional serology: indirect hemagglutination, latex particle agglutination, and basophil degranulation. An immunoelectrotransfer blot coupled to a discriminant analysis was more sensitive than conventional serological diagnosis and detected 100% of patients with an active hepatic hydatid cyst with a specificity of 100%. This method, however, failed to detect an uncomplicated hyaline pulmonary hydatid cyst.

MeSH terms

  • Discriminant Analysis
  • Echinococcosis, Hepatic / diagnosis*
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / methods
  • Hemagglutination
  • Humans
  • Immunoblotting / methods
  • Predictive Value of Tests