Detection of leishmanial antigen in the urine of patients with visceral leishmaniasis by a latex agglutination test

Sundar, S., Agrawal, S., Pai, K., Chance, Michael and Hommel, Marcel (2005) 'Detection of leishmanial antigen in the urine of patients with visceral leishmaniasis by a latex agglutination test'. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Vol 73, Issue 2, pp. 269-271.

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Abstract

Diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is usually done by demonstration of parasites in tissue smears. However, obtaining these smears may be risky, painful, and difficult. Antibody-based diagnostics are limited by their inability to predict active disease. In this study, a new latex agglutination test (KAtex), which detects parasite antigen in freshly voided and boiled urine, was evaluated in patients with VL before the start (n = 382) and at the end of treatment (n = 273); 185 healthy controls from leishmaniasis-endemic region were also studied. The KAtex result was positive in 87% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 83.3-90.3). However, at the end of treatment only 3% (95% Cl = 1.6-6.2) patients were positive. The specificity of the test was 99% and 2 of 185 healthy controls tested positive. Positive and negative predictive values were 0.994 and 0.788, respectively. KAtex is a promising test, and in a simplified and improved format it could be applied meaningfully in the diagnosis of VL.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	QY Clinical Pathology > Diagnostic Tests > QY 185 Urinalysis WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 715 Visceral leishmaniasis
Digital Object Identifer (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.2005.73.269
Depositing User:	Ms Julia Martin
Date Deposited:	22 Sep 2011 10:02
Last Modified:	26 Nov 2024 13:52
URI:	https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/1845

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