Marei Ayman, Boghdadi Ghada, Abdel-Hamed Nahla, Hessin Rasha, Abdoel Theresia, Smits Henk, Fathey Fayza
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt.
J Infect Dev Ctries. 2011 Nov 15;5(11):786-91. doi: 10.3855/jidc.1538.
Brucellosis is a major public health problem in Egypt. The Brucella IgM/IgG lateral flow assay was developed as a point-of-care test for the diagnosis of human brucellosis. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic value of the lateral flow assay for use in Egypt.
Fifty samples of patients who presented with clinical suspicion of brucellosis over a one-year period were collected. All samples were subjected to the Brucella IgM/IgG lateral flow assay, serum agglutination test (SAT), rose bengal RB Test (RB), 2- mercapteoethanol (2-ME), culture and PCR. SAT, 2- ME, culture and PCR were retested after the end of the treatment.
Culture and SAT confirmed the diagnosis of brucellosis in twenty patients. While 90% of the samples were positive by SAT, only 30% and 85% were positive by culture and PCR respectively. The sensitivity of the lateral flow assay calculated for the Brucella IgM/IgG was 95% and specificity was 97%.
These data show that the lateral flow assay is more suitable for diagnosis of brucellosis in Egypt than culture and SAT. Application of the PCR on serum samples collected during follow-up revealed that the DNA of the pathogen was yet not completely cleared almost 60 days after the start of treatment with doxycycline and ciprofloxacin.
布鲁氏菌病是埃及的一个主要公共卫生问题。布鲁氏菌免疫球蛋白M/免疫球蛋白G侧向流动检测法被开发用作诊断人类布鲁氏菌病的即时检测方法。本研究的目的是评估侧向流动检测法在埃及使用的诊断价值。
收集了在一年时间内临床疑似患有布鲁氏菌病的50名患者的样本。所有样本均接受布鲁氏菌免疫球蛋白M/免疫球蛋白G侧向流动检测法、血清凝集试验（SAT）、虎红试验（RB）、2-巯基乙醇（2-ME）、培养和聚合酶链反应（PCR）检测。在治疗结束后对SAT、2-ME、培养和PCR进行重新检测。
培养和SAT确诊了20例布鲁氏菌病患者。虽然90%的样本通过SAT呈阳性，但通过培养和PCR分别只有30%和85%呈阳性。计算得出的布鲁氏菌免疫球蛋白M/免疫球蛋白G侧向流动检测法的灵敏度为95%，特异性为97%。
这些数据表明，侧向流动检测法在埃及比培养和SAT更适合诊断布鲁氏菌病。对随访期间收集的血清样本进行PCR检测发现，在用强力霉素和环丙沙星治疗开始近60天后，病原体的DNA仍未完全清除。
