Performance of the in-house ELISA using RH and NTE antigens for serological diagnosis of Toxoplasma gondii in canines
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18004/mem.iics/1812-9528/2026.e24122604Keywords:
Toxoplasmosis, Toxoplasma gondii, canines, strain typing, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assayAbstract
Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease caused by Toxoplasma gondii that generally does not produce clinical signs in dogs, although it can affect immunocompromised animals or those with comorbidities. The objective of this study was to evaluate the concordance and diagnostic performance of the in-house indirect ELISA with soluble antigens from the RH and NTE strains of T. gondii tachyzoites compared to a commercial multispecies ELISA with the recombinant p30 anti-T. gondii protein. A cross-sectional diagnostic test study was conducted with 96 canine sera, recording sex, age, and breed. The sera were processed using an in-house indirect ELISA with soluble antigens from the RH and NTE strains and compared with the commercial multispecies test. Demographic frequencies, concordance (Cohen's Kappa), optical density correlation, and diagnostic performance (sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value [PPV], and negative predictive value [NPV]) were calculated. The positive reaction frequency was 40.62% for RH and 21.88% for NTE. The agreement between the two strains was moderate (Kappa = 0.4876) with high correlation (r = 0.692; p = 0.001). Compared to the p30 protein, the agreement was moderate for RH (Kappa = 0.5089) and weak for NTE (Kappa = 0.2082). The performance indicators were: RH sensitivity 71.79%, specificity 80.70%; NTE sensitivity 33.33%, specificity 85.96%. The in-house indirect ELISA enabled the evaluation of anti-T. gondii antibodies in canine sera, demonstrating greater concordance and diagnostic performance for the RH strain, providing relevant information on the usefulness of these antigens in serological studies.
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