Erythro-Lectin Immuno Test (Erythro-LIT) in the immunodiagnosis of neurocysticercosis

RESUMO

1. The effectiveness of the Erythro-Lectin Immuno Test (Erythro-LIT) to detect anticysticercus antibodies was tested using cerebrospinal fluid (CFS) from patients with neurocysticercosis. 2. Both Erythro-LIT and complement fixation (CF) were used to detect antibodies in 36 CSF samples from cysticercotic patients. Erythro-LIT detected anticysticercus antibodies in 35 CSF samples (97%) and CF in 26(72%). The antibody titers ranged from 14 to 14096 for Erythro-LIT (mean geometric titer = 282.65) and 11 to 164 in CF (mean geometric titer = 7,92). 3. When > 116 Erythro-LIT was used as a significant diagnostic cut-off value, the sensitivity and specificity of Erythro-LIT were 92% and 100%, respectively, for CFS. 4. The high sensitivity and specificity demonstrated here, together with the simplicity and low cost of the test, make the Erythro-LIT a potentially useful method for screening for specific antibodies in neurocysticercosis