Document Type : Microbiology and Immunology
Authors
1
Department of internal medicine, Faculty of veterinary medicine , University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
2
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Michigan university, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
3
Department of Food Hygiene & Quality Control, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran- Iran
4
Department of internal medicine, Faculty of veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
5
Department of Internal medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
6
Department of Microbiology and immunology, faculty of Veterinary medicine, university of Tehran, Tehran , Iran
7
Small animal practitioner
8
University of Tehran
Abstract
Background: Canine parvovirus is one of the leading causes of mortality in puppies. Rapid diagnosis of this disease plays a key role in the timely initiation of treatment and reduction of complications and fatal outcomes. However, despite their high diagnostic power, standard diagnostic methods face limitations in low-resource settings. In addition, the dependence of hemagglutination-based assays on specific biological resources, such as porcine erythrocytes, has limited their practical application in many clinical and field environments.
Objective: From a clinical perspective, the availability of rapid diagnostic methods capable of detecting parvoviral antigens in fecal samples while simultaneously assessing the host immune response can be beneficial for early therapeutic decision-making. Nevertheless, such methods cannot replace standard assays with higher sensitivity and reproducibility. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a slide agglutination test (SAT) for rapid detection of the virus in fecal samples and a slide inhibition test (SIT) for antibody detection in serum, as complementary and supportive tools alongside reference methods, particularly in resource-limited settings. In this regard, feline erythrocytes were used as an accessible alternative to porcine erythrocytes.
Methods: SAT and SIT were performed using feline and rhesus erythrocytes on 33 fecal samples that tested positive by a rapid immunochromatographic assay. The tests were conducted at three different temperatures (4, 25, and 37 °C). The performance of these methods was evaluated based on PCR and cell culture results as reference standards, and agglutination activity under different conditions was compared.
Results: The sensitivity and specificity of the SAT were estimated to be 92% and 95%, respectively, and this assay showed close agreement with PCR results. The SIT was able to completely inhibit agglutination in all positive samples.
Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that the use of feline erythrocytes instead of porcine erythrocytes reduces some common limitations and facilitates the field application of SAT and SIT. These methods are not intended to replace standard diagnostic assays with higher sensitivity and reproducibility, but rather can serve as auxiliary screening tools in resource-limited environments to support improved management of canine parvoviral infection.
Keywords
Main Subjects
)