Use of monoclonal antibodies for the differential detection of Trypanosoma cruzi and T. rangeli in epidemiological studies and xenodiagnosis.

T. cruzi and T. rangeli have the same insect and mammalian hosts, including man, and in addition share approximately half the antigenic determinants recognised by the humoral response. Thus serodiagnosis of T. cruzi infection in areas where T. rangeli is endemic may include an unknown rate of false positives due to this antigenic cross-reactivity. Similarly, the results of xenodiagnostic procedures and epidemiological surveys of insect vectors are prone to distortion because of the close morphological resemblance of the epimastigote stages. The description of a T. cruzi epimastigote specific monoclonal antibody, 2A2, which reacts with both culture and insect derived epimastigotes provides a more reliable basis for differential diagnosis of these two parasites.