Simeen Ber Rahman, Bari A U, Haroon Rashid.
Humoral immune response in cutaneous Leishmaniasis and evaluation of related immunodiagnostic tests.
Pak J Pathol Jan ;15(2):64-8.

In response to the entry of an organism, the host deploys a wide variety of defensive mechanisms. Two limbs of the host immune system come into play (humoral and cellular immunity). The humoral response develops when the organisms invade the blood stream and B lymphocytes are the key cells responsible for it. This study was carried out to evaluate various immunodiagnostic tests based on humoral response of the host against Leishmania parasite. Twenty clinically and histologically diagnosed cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis were included in the study. A battery of immunological tests including Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), indirect heamaglutination test (IHT) and immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT) were performed on sera while immunohistochemistry (IHC) and (IFAT) were performed on skin biopsy specimens of all these patients. Kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) probe tests were carried out on tissue sections of 10 patients. ELISA was found to be a superior serological test. IHC was better than IFAT. kDNA although considered more specific than all, did not prove to be 100% specific. These tests can be considered an important tool in screening purpose, but should not be relied upon solely in diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis.

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