ELISA in the diagnosis of Wuchereria bancrofti infection in man: a technique for reducing cross-reactivity.

The cross-reactivity of filarial heteroantigens, the non-availability of adult Wuchereria bancrofti for antigen extraction, and the lack of structural information on purified filarial heteroantigens make the serological diagnosis of W. bancrofti infection in man a difficult problem. The use of immune sera from cattle infected with Setaria digitata when carrying out the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) largely eliminated the cross-reactions with serum antibodies generally seen in subjects showing no evidence of W. bancrofti infection.