[Contribution of serologic technics to the analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid in Congolese patients with sleeping sickness]. / Apport des techniques sérologiques dans l'analyse du liquide céphalo-rachidien de patients congolais atteints de la maladie du sommeil.

Three serological tests: the Card Agglutination Test (Testryp CATT), the Indirect Immunofluorescence Antibody Test (IFAT) and the Cellognost Indirect Haemagglutination technique (CIHA) were used to analyse the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 41 patients infected with Trypanosoma gambiense and 30 uninfected persons. The authors reported the following data: --IFAT and especially CIHA were more efficient than CATT to demonstrate the presence of specific antibodies in the CSF; --the intensity of the cell and protein alterations paralleled the IFAT fluorescence intensity and the CIHA dilution titers; --this study indicated that the immunological analysis applied to CSF may prove to be a useful procedure to diagnosis the early onset of the attack on the nervous system and the evolution of the disease measured by the intensity of the reactions.