Assessment of Recombinant A2-Latex Agglutination Test (RA2-LAT) and RA2-ELISA for Detection of Canine Visceral Leishmaniasis: A Comparative Field Study with Direct Agglutination Test in Northwestern Iran

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to set-up latex agglutination test (LAT) and ELISA based on recombinant A2 from Iranian strain of Leishmania (L.) infantum (rA2-Ag) and evaluated for detection of anti-Leishmania antibodies in dogs compared to standard direct agglutination test (DAT). METHODS: The rA2-Ag was synthesized under a part of the A2 gene sequences which contain immune dominant sequences and less number of repetitive sequences. Latex beads, 0.8 μm (Sigma, USA) were sensitized with rA2-Ag. The tests were carried out on sera collected from 350 ownership dogs including symptomatic (n=67), asymptomatic (n=230) canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL), and (n=53) uninfected domestic dogs as control group. RESULTS: Anti-leishmanial antibodies were detected in 97 (27.7%), 96 (27.4%) and 29 (%9) of the serum samples by using DAT, rA2-ELISA, and rA2-latex, respectively with ≥1:320 as a cut-off titer when DAT-confirmed cases were compared with the control groups. A combined sensitivity of 52% and specificity of 82.40% for rA2-ELISA and 23.8% and specificity 95.38%, respectively were found with ≥1:320 as a cut-off titer when DAT-confirmed cases were compared with the control groups. The concordance between rA2-ELISA and rA2 latex compared with DAT as a gold standard serological test for VL were found 73.7% and 77.5%, respectively. CONCLUSION: A good degree of agreement was found between rA2-ELISA and DAT (73.7%). rA2-ELISA could detect more seropositive serum samples than rA2-LAT and it may be recommended as an alternative tool for the diagnosis of CVL.