Serology

Synonyms

Antibody detection; Immunodiagnosis; Serodiagnosis

General Information

Serology in general, which describes changes in the immunological potency of body fluids after infection with a specific pathogen under diagnostic aspects, has gained increasing importance over the last 20 years for microbiology. Serology of parasitic infections, in particular, gained much from the in vitro cultivation of parasites and the production of monoclonal antibodies. Both techniques together improved the knowledge of parasitologists on stage-specific antigens and antibodies and their relevance for immunodiagnosis. A variety of potential immunoassayswere developed to measure the change in kinetics and concentration of parasite-specific antibodies. The technical developments favoured the ELISA-system, as it needs only minor quantities of reagents and it can equally be used for antigen and antibody detection. The application of highly specialized test systems showed clearly that serological values...