Evaluation of FAST-ELISA for the diagnosis of experimental trichniosis

In order to compare between FAST-ELISA and ELISA for the diagnosis of experimental trichinosis and study the kinetics of antibody and eosinophilic responses, six New Zeland rabbits were infected orally by Trichinella spiralis larvae. Blood was collected every other day for the first 2 weeks, then weekly for eleven weeks post infection. T. spiralis crude larval antigen was prepared for coating of ELISA plates and FAST-ELISA beads. Blood was examined for eosinophilic count and for serum antibody level by ELISA and FAST-ELISA techniques. The burden of infection was assessed by counting encysted larvae in muscle samples of the infected rabbits. By FAST-ELISA antibodies were detected seven days post infection (P.I.), while with ELISA technique antibodies were detected after 10 days. Both tests detected maximum antibody levels on the 4th week. The eosinophilic count reached its peak by the 2nd week. There was a significant inverse correlation between the mean eosinophilic count and the mean larval count. FAST-ELISA proved to be more sensitive than ELISA in early detection of infection, besides being a simple, fast and sensitive assay for antibody detection against T. spiralis.