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Detection of toxoplasma-specific immunoglobulin G in human sera: performance comparison of in house Dot-ELISA with ECLIA and ELISA

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Abstract

In the current study, performance of electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA) in detection of anti-toxoplasma IgG in human sera was compared with that of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Furthermore, performance of an in house Dot-ELISA in detection of anti-toxoplasma IgG was compared with that of ECLIA and ELISA. In total, 219 human sera were tested to detect anti-toxoplasma IgG using Dynex DS2® and Roche Cobas® e411 Automated Analyzers. Discordant results rechecked using immunofluorescence assay (IFA). Then, sera were used in an in house Dot-ELISA to assess toxoplasma-specific IgG. Of the 219 samples, two samples were found undetermined using ECLIA but reactive using ELISA. Using IFA, the two sera were reported unreactive. Furthermore, two samples were found reactive using ECLIA and unreactive using ELISA. These samples were reported reactive using IFA. The overall agreement for the two former methods was 98% (rZ0.98.1; P < 0.001). The intrinsic parameters calculated for in house Dot-ELISA included sensitivity of 79.5, specificity of 78.2, and accuracy of 78.9%, compared to ECLIA and ELISA. Positive and negative predictive values included 82.9 and 74.2%, respectively. A 100% sensitivity was found in in house Dot-ELISA for highly reactive sera in ECLIA and ELISA. ECLIA is appropriate for the first-line serological screening tests and can replace ELISA due to high speed, sensitivity, and specificity, particularly in large laboratories. Dot-ELISA is a rapid, sensitive, specific, cost-effective, user-friendly, and field-portable technique and hence can be used for screening toxoplasmosis, especially in rural fields or less equipped laboratories.

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Abbreviations

ECLIA:

electrochemiluminescence immunoassay

ELISA:

enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

IgG:

immunoglobulin G

DT:

dye test

IFA:

immunofluorescence assay

CFT:

complement fixation test

MAT:

modified agglutination test

LAT:

latex agglutination test

DAT:

direct agglutination test

IFAT:

indirect fluorescent antibody test

IHA:

indirect hemagglutination assay

PBS-M 3%:

phosphate-buffered saline containing 3% of non-fat dry milk

PBS-T:

phosphate-buffered saline containing tween 20

HRP:

horseradish peroxidase

OPD:

ortho phenylenediamine

OD:

optical density

NC:

nitrocellulose membrane

IBM:

International Business Machines Corporation

SPSS:

Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge all staff from the toxoplasmosis laboratory (Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran) for their useful collaboration.

Funding

This study was supported by the Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services (Project Number: 29999-160-03-94), Tehran, Iran.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Pour Sina Street, Ghods Avenue, Enghelab Avenue, P.O. Box: 1417613191, Tehran, Iran

    Aref Teimouri, Saeedeh Shojaee, Mehdi Mohebali, Nima Zouei, Mostafa Rezaian & Hossein Keshavarz

  2. Students Scientific Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Aref Teimouri

  3. Department of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Mohammad Hossein Modarressi

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  1. Aref Teimouri
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  2. Mohammad Hossein Modarressi
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  3. Saeedeh Shojaee
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  4. Mehdi Mohebali
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  7. Hossein Keshavarz
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Contributions

HK and MHM conceived the study. NZ collected and prepared the samples. AT performed the experiments with substantial contributions by SS. AT drafted the manuscript and revised by SS, MM, and MR. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hossein Keshavarz.

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Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study was approved by the Ethical Committee of Tehran University of Medical Sciences.

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Not applicable (no individual person’s data).

Availability of data and material

The data that support the findings of this study are available on reasonable request to the corresponding author.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Teimouri, A., Modarressi, M.H., Shojaee, S. et al. Detection of toxoplasma-specific immunoglobulin G in human sera: performance comparison of in house Dot-ELISA with ECLIA and ELISA. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 37, 1421–1429 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-018-3266-y

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