EVALUATION OF RECOMBINANT LEPTOSPIRAL ANTIGEN LIPL41 IN ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY AND LATEX AGGLUTINATION TEST FOR SERODIAGNOSIS OF LEPTOSPIROSIS

摘要

Prompt laboratory diagnosis of leptospirosis infection facilitates patient management and initiation of therapy. The microscopic agglutination test (MAT) is the serological test used in reference laboratories because of its high degree of sensitivityand specificity. But the results are not available quickly for patient management. The phenotypic conservation of the leptospiral outer membrane proteins (OMPs) such as OmpLl and LipL41 are well established. In the present study, in order to develop a rapid, simple immunodiagnostic assay, one of the OMPs, recombinant LipL41 (rLipL41) has been evaluated in ELISA and latex agglutination test. The sensitivity and specificity of the IgG-ELISA were 82% and 95%, and of the latex agglutination test were 98% and 96% respectively. The assays were proved to be as sensitive, specific and accurate as standard MAT. The results indicated that the rLipL41 could be used as a potential diagnostic candidate for human leptospirosis.