[Fecal and serum anti-amebic antibodies in acute intestinal amebiasis]

Antiamebic antibody titers, were investigated in the feces and sera of 30 adults patients with intestinal amoebiasis, during the first two weeks of disease. Also, 29 control samples of healthy adult subjects were studied. The objective of this study was to determine if the local or systemic IgG, IgM or IgA levels were modified during the early stages of acute intestinal amoebiasis, for this purpose ELISA technique was use. Anti E. histolytica antibody titers in fecal samples of patients were not statistically different from titers detected in control samples, however in both groups IgA and IgM titers were higher than IgG levels. In serum samples IgG antibody titers were 4 fold higher in patients than in control group. With a P less than 0.006. In the case of IgM and IgA differences observed between the two groups studied were not statistically significant. Our results suggest that titration of coproantibodies against E. histolytica have not predictive value for intestinal amoebiasis in areas, were amoebiasis is a endemic disease. On the other hand we observed a discrete increase in IgG levels in the group of patients.