ABSTRACT
Naegleria fowleri, a free-living amoeba, is the causative agent of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, a fatal human disease of the central nervous system often contracted after swimming in fresh water. Identifying sites contaminated by N. fowleri is important in order to prevent the disease. An Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA) has been developed for the specific identification of N. fawleri in primary cultures of environmental water samples. Of 939 samples isolated from artificially heated river water and screened by ELISA, 283 were positive. These results were subsequently confirmed by isoelectric focusing, the established reference method. A sensitivity of 97.4% and a specificity of 97% were obtained. These results indicate that this ELISA method is reliable and can be considered as a powerful tool for the detection of N. fowleri in environmental water samples.
Subject(s)
Environmental Monitoring/methods , Fresh Water/parasitology , Naegleria fowleri/classification , Naegleria fowleri/isolation & purification , Water Pollution , Animals , Antibodies, Monoclonal/immunology , Antibodies, Protozoan/immunology , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Hot Temperature , Meningoencephalitis/parasitology , Naegleria fowleri/immunology , Power Plants , Sensitivity and SpecificityABSTRACT
A new method for the rapid and accurate detection of pathogenic Naegleria fowleri amoebae in surface environmental water was developed. The method is based on an immunofluorescent assay combined with detection by solid-phase cytometry. In this study we developed and compared two protocols using different reporter systems conjugated to antibodies. The monoclonal antibody Ac5D12 was conjugated with biotin and horseradish peroxidase, and the presence of cells was revealed with streptavidin conjugated to both R-phycoerythrin and cyanine Cy5 (RPE-Cy5) and tyramide-fluorescein isothiocyanate, respectively. The RPE-Cy5 protocol was the most efficient protocol and allowed the detection of both trophozoite and cyst forms in water. The direct counts obtained by this new method were not significantly different from those obtained by the traditional culture approach, and results were provided within 3 h. The sensitivity of the quantitative method is 200 cells per liter. The limit is due only to the filtration capacity of the membrane used.
