TITLE:
Comparison of Antibody Detection with Yeast Lysate Antigens Prepared from Blastomyces dermatitidis Dog Isolates from Wisconsin and Tennessee
AUTHORS:
Jessica J. Roberts, Michael V. Madrid, Lindsy Dickerson, Bradi Hutchison, Gene M. Scalarone
KEYWORDS:
Blastomyces dermatitidis; Blastomycosis; ELISA; Lysate Antigen; Antibody Detection
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Veterinary Medicine,
Vol.3 No.1,
March
27,
2013
ABSTRACT: Blastomyces dermatitidis, the causative agent of blastomycosis, a potentially lethal dimorphic fungal disease of humans and animals has been difficult to diagnose in the clinical laboratory. We are attempting to develop and improve immunodiagnostic assays by producing novel yeast lysate reagents for the detection of antibodies in blastomycosis. The objective of this study was to use lysate antigens prepared from four B. dermatitidis antigens isolated from dogs infected with blastomycosis from two different endemic areas (Wisconsin and Tennessee) testing for the detection of antibodies in serum specimens from immunized rabbits and infected dogs using the indirect ELISA. In the dog sera, absorbance values ranged from 0.774 to 1.350, while the rabbit sera values ranged from 0.533 to 1.191. Antigen T-58 appeared to lack any geographical specificity in antibody detection, which could prove useful in future immunodiagnostic detection of blastomycosis infections.