[Evaluation of the immunoblotting for the detection of immunoglobulin G Toxoplasma antibodies in immunocompetent patients].

UNLABELLED

The serological tests commonly used for the diagnosis of toxoplasmosis raise the problem of the interpretation of the borderline immunoglobulin G (IgG) levels and discordant results between various tests.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of our study was to evaluate the contribution of the immunoblotting in the detection of specific IgG in acquired toxoplasmosis of immunocompetent patients especially when levels are equivocal or discordant in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Elisa) and indirect fluorescent antigen test (IFAT).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

[corrected] We tested three groups of sera. The first included 87 positive sera, the second 33 negative sera, and the last one 29 equivocal sera.

RESULTS

Results obtained with the first and the second group of sera led us to identify the bands 30kDa and 32kDa as markers of the toxoplasmic infection. The simultaneous presence of both bands showed a sensitivity of 91.5%, a specificity of 96.9%, a VPP of 98.7%, a VPN of 74.4% and a Youden's index of 0.88. Our findings suggest that the presence of these two bands is a reliable criterion for the confirmation of the presence of anti-toxoplasmic IgG in the corresponding serum. The immunoblot allowed us to ascertain serological status of 27 (93.1%) patients from the third group in which results were discrepant or equivocal in Elisa and/or in IFAT.

CONCLUSION

Immunoblot is a useful serological test for detection of very low or equivocal titers.