Evaluation of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [elisa], indirect hemagglutination [IHA], counterimmunoelectrophoresis [CIEP], and immunodiffusion [ID] in the serodiagnosis of amebiasis

ABSTRACT

ELISA, IHA, CIEP and ID techniques were used in the detection of Entamoeba histolytica antibodies in sera of 119 patients with different clinical symptoms [41 with amebic liver abscess, 32 with amebic intestinal infection, 46 with liver diseases other than amebiasis]. Sera from 37 healthy people with no history of amebiasis and negative microscopical examination of their stools for parasitic infections were used as negative control. These four tests proved to be specific for the diagnosis of amebiasis. The first three tests diagnosed all the cases with amebic liver abscess while ID failed to diagnose one of them. When taking into consideration time and cost involved in performing these various tests, CIEP proved to be the test of choice. None of the tests were satisfactory when testing sera from patients with E. histolytica in their stools. ELISA diagnosed a relatively higher number of them than IHA [37.5% and 25%, respectively], while the other 2 tests failed to diagnose any of them. Therefore, microscopical examination of stool remains the test of choice for the diagnosis of intestinal amoebiasis