A comparison of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and indirect fluorescent antibody test in the sero-diagnosis of cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis in Iran

ELISA AND IFAT have been applied to the sero-diagnosis of cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis and the levels of leishmanial antibody detected by Leishmania donovani antigens in both tests have been compared. From the results it appears that ELISA is a little more sensitive than IFAT, but IFAT seems to be more specific in detecting leishmanial antibodies. In both tests reactions between leishmanial antigen and some other infections, such as malaria and typhoid, were observed. These non-specific reactions reduce the validity of both tests, especially ELISA, in the serodiagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis but, in visceral leishmaniasis, the leishmanial antibody levels were high enough to be unaffected by non-specific reactions. In general, ELISA is as good as IFAT and more practical in the sero-diagnosis and mass screening surveys for kala-azar.