• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.45-50
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• 2010

Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) is major cause of chronic respiratory disease in chickens. M. synoviae (MS) most frequently occurs a subclinical upper respiratory infection but may result in airsacculitis and synovitis in chickens and turkeys. Both mycoplasmas induce economic losses by triggering chronic respiratory signs, airsacculitis and decreased egg production. For prevention of the infections, live attenuated andinactivated vaccines are commercially used for prevention of MG but not MS in Korea. Serum plate agglutination (SPA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) have been commonly used for serological diagnosis for MG and MS. Recently, it is believed that MS spread in chickens is very seriously in Korea and respiratory infection with MS causes substantial loss in poultry farms. In this study, we investigated the serological prevalence of MG and MS in unvaccinated chickens between 2008 and 2009. The overall seroprevalence of MG was 24% of 2,094 for individual chickens and 24% of 189 farms. The overall seroprevalence of MS was 36% in 2,095 chickens and 39% in 198 farms. The results show that seropositive ratio of MS is higher than MG. The geographical prevalence of MG has been estimated in following sequence; Gangwon, Jeolla, Gyeonggi, Gyeongsang, and Chungcheong. The geographical prevalence of MS has been estimated as follows; Gangwon, Gyeonggi, Gyeongsang, Chungcheong, and Jeolla. Seasonal seroprevalencewas also examined, and it found that seroprevalence in spring, fall and winter was higher than that in summer in MG, but not in MS. No significant difference was shown in seroprevalence according to breed. Future study about pathogenicity of MS isolates would be needed and economical losses by MS outbreaks should be analyzed. Moreover, we compared sero-positivity obtained with SPA and ELISA. The kappa value of MG between SPA and ELISA was 0.8061 and the kappa value of MS between SPA and ELISA was 0.7649.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.545-550
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• 2002

The raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) may be infected by Dirofilaria immitis. However, there has been no report on dirofilarial infection in the raccoon dog in Korea. In this study, we report on D. immitis infection in two wild raccoon dogs captured in the Daejeon area. The two raccoon dogs were referred to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Chungnam National University for diagnosis of D. immitis infection. The modified Knott's test for the detection of blood D. immitis microfilariae was positive, and serological test (FASTest$^{(R)}$ HW Antigen ELISA kit, Diagnostik Mega Cor, Austria) for D. immitis was positive as well. Additionally, D. immitis microfilariae were differentiated from other microfilariae by using acid phrnphatase histochemical staining (Leucognost-SP$^{(R)}$kit, Diagncstica MERCK, Germany). The two raccoon dogs were necropsed and D. immitis infection was confirmed.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.586-597
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• 1999

Background: Many diagnostic tests have developed to diagnose tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases but the diagnosis of tuberculosis relies largely on radiological findings and acid-fast staining of sputum and/or culture. Recently, new serologic diagnostic methods, which are safe and easy to use have been introduced into Korea. In this study, the usefulness of serologic diagnosis for tuberculosis and the disease pattern induced variation of the test were evaluated. Methods: Serological assay was performed upon 108 patients with two test kits, the ICT tuberculosis and the BioSign$^{TM}$TB, which are based upon a rapid immunochromatographic assay technique, capable of being interpreted within 15 minutes. The case groups consisted of 61 patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis(36 patients), extrapulmonary tuberculosis(3 patients), or both(22 patients). Control groups consisted of 47 patients with inactive old pulmonary tuberculosis(17 patients), nontuberculous pulmonary disease(16 patients) and nonpulmonary cardiac disease(14 patients). Results : The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value(PPV) and negative predictive value(NPV) of the ICT tuberculosis were 64.3%, 91.5%, 90.0% and 68.3% respectively. The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of the BioSign$^{TM}$TB were 76.5%, 95.3%, 94.1 % and 78.8% respectively. Differences in sensitivity were not significant between patients with previous history of tuberculosis or patients without prior history of tuberculosis. The ICT tuberculosis test showed higher sensitivity in pulmonary tuberculosis patients(76.5%) than extrapulmonary tuberculosis patients(33.3%). There was no difference in sensitivity between patients with or without cavitary lesion by chest X-ray. Conclusion: Considering high specificity and PPV, serologic diagnosis using a rapid immunochromatographic assay device is another helpful diagnostic method in the diagnosis of tuberculosis, when combined with previous diagnostic methods such as chest X-ray, microbiologic study but it has limitation in terms of confirming the diagnosis for tuberculosis as the only diagnostic method because of relatively low sensitivity and NPV.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.142-152
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• 1981

One hundred and thirteen healed pulmonary tuberculosis patients and 11 patients with other underlying diseases were studied for evidence of pulmonary fungal infection because of persisting hemoptysis or chronic cough. Rediological, mycological and serological investigations revealed that 54 out of 124 patients were evidently infected with one or more species of fungi. A. fumigatus was isolated from 4 out of 70 patients whose sera did not react with antigens from this fungus, while it was isolated from 43 out of 47 serological reactors to this fungus. Chest radiography showed a distinct fungus ball in a cyst of one patient and in a preformed cavity in the lung of 17 healed tuberculosis patients and two other patients. The latter two patients were infected with A.flavus. Two patients, who were under the long period of immunosuppressive therapy, apparently succumbed to invasive aspergillosia due to A.fumigatus. A single or dual infection with A. flavus, A. nidulans, A.nidulans var. latus, C. albicans, and P. boydii were noticed in some patients without mycetomal shadow on chest radiographs. Young mycelial extract (ME) of A.fumigatus detected antibody in 95.8 percent of the sera from patients infected with this fungus, while it was isolated from 43 out of 47 serological reactors to this fungus. Chest radiography showed a distinct fungus ball in a cyst of one patient and in a performed cavity in the lung of 17 healed tuberculosis patients and two other patients. The latter two patients were infected with A. flavus. Two patients, who were under the long period of immunosuppressive therapy, apparently succumbed to invasive aspergillosis due to A.fumigatus. A single or dual infection with A. flavus, A. nidulans, A. niduans var. latus, C. albicans, and P. boydii were noticed in some patients without mycetomal shadow on chest radiographs. Young mycelial extract (ME) of A.fumigatus detected antibody in 95.8 percent of the sera from patients infected with this fungus, while the commercial culture filtrate antigen (GL) yielded 78.7 per cent positive result. Culture filtrate antigen, however, was comparable with ME. There was no single antigen with which all the serum specimens reacted. Fractionation of ME resulted in a loss of some activity although it excluded substances that reacted with C-reactive protein in a loss of some activity although it excluded substances that reacted with C-reactive protein. Most reactive and specific precipitinogens distributed in the fraction (FB) which was precipitable at 75 percent saturation with ammonium sulfate and eluted in a second peak in order from gel-filtration and which contained mostly proteinic components. Glycoproteins or polysaccharides rich fractions (FA and ASI) were relatively less effective in detecting antibody. Demonstration of antibody in the serum from patients using a battery of fungal antigens and of etiologically related fungi from clinical specimens are very useful laboratory procedures for the diagnosis of pulmonary fungal infection which is a common complication of tuberculosis.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.218-229
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• 2021

Purpose: Serological tests of tissue transglutaminase (TTG) and deamidated gliadin (DGP) antibodies for celiac disease diagnosis show conflicting correlation with histology in young children and in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Tests' ability to predict histology and cutoff values based on age and T1DM was evaluated. Methods: A retrospective study of children who had celiac serological tests between 6/1/2002 and 12/31/2014 at a pediatric hospital. Results: TTG IgA displayed similar results in predicting histology between <4.0 and ≥4.0 years age groups with sensitivity 98% and 93%, and specificity 88% and 86%, respectively. In children <4.0 years old, sensitivity for DGP antibodies was 100% and specificity 94%; in ≥4.0 years age groups, sensitivity was 60%, 88% for DGP IgA and IgG and specificity 95%, 96%, respectively. TTG IgA had low specificity in patients with T1DM compared with non-T1DM, 42% vs. 91%. Positive TTG IgA with normal histology was associated with higher T1DM prevalence at 36% compared with negative tests at 4%. Finally, the TTG IgA cutoff value was higher in T1DM at 36 vs. 16.3 units in non-T1DM. DGP IgG cutoff showed similar values between age groups; TTG IgA and DGP IgA cutoffs were lower in <4.0 years at 8.3 and 11.9 units than ≥4.0 years at 23.4 and 19.9, respectively. Conclusion: TTG IgA is sufficient for the <4.0 years age group and DGP antibodies had no advantage over TTG IgA in older children. The cutoff value to determine a positive TTG IgA should be higher for children with T1DM.

• ANNALS OF ANIMAL RESOURCE SCIENCES
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.78-96
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• 2017

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a infection that can easily spread when it occurs and causes serious economic damage because of the existence of multiple serotypes of the virus and extreme contagiousness. The most effective method in preventing the transmission of FMD virus (FMDV) is the culling of livestock and additional vaccination in the other areas depending on the spreading rate and situation. Diagnostic methods are utilized not only for the definite diagnosis of FMD but also for identification of serotype, and confirmation of antibody production after vaccination. Although many methods have been developed to diagnose, they are not still enough to detect accurately the disease in a short time. Therefore, it has been needed new diagnostic methods improved from existing methods. Previous methods were based on the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) as a serological diagnostic method, or polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which is a molecular genetic method. The recent technology has been performing about the combination of both methods and how to make it faster, less costly, more sensitive and accurate way.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.50.1-50.12
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• 2022

Background: There is an urgent need to find reliable and rapid bovine tuberculosis (bTB) diagnostics in response to the rising prevalence of bTB worldwide. Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) recognizes components of bTB and initiates antigen-presenting cells to mediate humoral immunity. Evaluating the affinity of antigens with TLR2 can form the basis of a new method for the diagnosis of bTB based on humoral immunity. Objectives: To develop a reliable and rapid strategy to improve diagnostic tools for bTB. Methods: In this study, we expressed and purified the sixteen bTB-specific recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli. The two antigenic proteins, MPT70 and MPT83, which were most valuable for serological diagnosis of bTB were screened. Molecular docking technology was used to analyze the affinity of MPT70, MPT83, dominant epitope peptide of MPT70 (M1), and dominant epitope peptide MPT83 (M2) with TLR2, combined with the detection results of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to evaluate the molecular docking effect. Results: The results showed that interaction surface Cα-atom root mean square deviation of proteins (M1, M2, MPT70, MPT83)-TLR2 protein are less than 2.5 A, showing a high affinity. It is verified by clinical serum samples that MPT70, MPT83, MPT70-MPT83 showed good diagnostic potential for the detection of anti-bTB IgG and M1, M2 can replace the whole protein as the detection antigen. Conclusions: Molecular docking to evaluate the affinity of bTB protein and TLR2 combined with ELISA provides new insights for the diagnosis of bTB.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.11-19
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• 2018

In Brazil, visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is expanding and becoming urbanized, especially in non-endemic areas such as the State of Rio Grande do Sul. Considering that infected dogs are the main reservoir for zoonotic VL, this study evaluated the prevalence of canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre, a new area of expansion of VL in Brazil. Serum and plasma from 405 asymptomatic dogs from the municipalities of Canoas (n=107), $S\tilde{a}o$ Leopoldo (n=216), and Novo Hamburgo (n=82) were tested for CVL using immunochromatographic ($DPP^{(R)}$) and ELISA $EIE^{(R)}$ assays (2 assays officially adopted by the Brazilian government for the diagnosis of CVL) and real-time PCR to confirm the results. There was no agreement among serological and real-time PCR results, indicating that the Leishmania infection in asymptomatic animals with low parasite load, confirmed by negative parasitological tests (smears and parasite culture), need to be evaluated by molecular methods. The prevalence of LVC in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre, confirmed by real-time PCR was 4% (5.6% in Canoas and 4.6% in $S\tilde{a}o$ Leopoldo). The use of molecular method is essential for accurate diagnosis of CVL, especially in asymptomatic dogs in non-endemic areas.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.31-40
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• 1996

Escherichia coli is one of the most common etiological agents in urinary tract infection. An important virulence factor is the adhesive capacity of E. coli to uroepithelial cell, mediated by bacterial fimbriae. The Adhesion property has been regarded as an important virulence determinant in urinary tract infections. A total of 60 patients, who were diagnosed microbiologically as urinary tract infections, were examined by immunoblotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). Uropathogenic E. coli with recombinant plasmid were positive for mannose resistant hemagglutination (MRHA). For identification of p-fimbriae subtype in uropathogenic E. coli, In the immunoblot analysis, specific bands in the range of p-fimbriae molecular weight of 17KD-22KD were identified. For the distribution of p-fimbriae subtype in the patient sera, 34/60(56.7%) were positive for $F7_1$, 28/60(46.7%) were positive for $F7_2$, and 30/60(50%) were positive for F13 with immunoblotting method. similar trends were observed in the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Relatively good specificity(92.6%) and sensitivity(90%) were found in the ELISA test system using mixed antigens of purified $F7_1$, $F7_2$, and F13 p-fimbriae, and 60 sera from patients with urinary tract infections. In conclusion The serological tests were convenient method in diagnosis of urinary tract infections. among those ELISA could be recommended in diagnosis of urinary tract infections.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.345-352
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• 1998

The diagnosis of brucellosis is currently based on serological and microbiological tests. However, the microbiological isolation and identification have several disadvantages such as time-consuming and laborious, and the serological methods have been reported to cross-react with antigens other than those from Brucella spp. To develop a sensitive and rapid diagnostic method for detection of Brucella species, the genus-specific primers were designed and synthesized from the sequence of gene encoding a 31kDa cell surface protein(BCSP) and a 36kDa outer membrane protein(OMPB) of B abortus. The amplified 711bp and 982bp DNA fragments were only visible in each species of Brucella by PCR method using the BCSP and OMPB primers, respectively. However, PCR product was not obtained with DNA from other Gram-negative bacteria. As little as 1pg of the B abortus genomic DNA could be detected by this PCR method. Using the PCR technique, semen samples from 185 bulls of Brucella-seronegative herds in Cheju island were examined for comparison of this PCR method with conventional methods in 1995. The semen samples from 5 bulls were positive by culture method and PCR, and one was positive and 5 were suspect by semen plasma agglutination test. However, the semen samples obtained from 177 bulls were negative by semen plasma agglutination, culture and PCR methods in 1996. The results of comparison tests suggested that PCR was a better test than agglutination test against semen of bulls. This study indicated that the PCR technique was a valuable for the diagnosis of bovine brucellosis, particulary in bull semens.