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Increased detection of Dirofilaria immitis antigen in cats after heat pretreatment of samples.

Authors :
Gruntmeir JM
Adolph CB
Thomas JE
Reichard MV
Blagburn BL
Little SE
Source :
Journal of feline medicine and surgery [J Feline Med Surg] 2017 Oct; Vol. 19 (10), pp. 1013-1016. Date of Electronic Publication: 2016 Sep 30.
Publication Year :
2017

Abstract

Objectives To determine whether pretreating diagnostic samples with heat increases the detection of Dirofilaria immitis antigen in adult cats, we evaluated feline serum and plasma samples collected in heartworm-endemic areas of the southern United States. Methods Commercial microtiter well assays for detection of D immitis antigen were used to evaluate serum or plasma samples from 385 shelter and free-roaming cats from the southcentral and southeastern United States before and after heat treatment; commercial antibody tests were performed on a subset of samples. Results Prior to sample heat treatment, 1/220 (0.5%) shelter cats and 4/165 (2.4%) free-roaming cats had detectable D immitis antigen. After heat pretreatment, the detection rate increased to 13/220 (5.9%) and 13/165 (7.9%), respectively. Antibody reactive to D immitis was significantly more common ( P <0.001) in the serum of cats that were antigen positive after heat treatment (10/13; 76.9%) than serum from cats that remained antigen negative after heat treatment (22/163; 13.5%). Conclusions and relevance Heat pretreatment of feline samples increased antigen detection by commercial assays for D immitis and improved overall concordance of antigen and antibody test results in antigen-positive samples in this population. Although further work to investigate the specificity of D immitis antigen assays when using pre-treated samples is warranted, this approach may be useful in the diagnosis of heartworm infection in individual cats and may increase the accuracy of surveys based on antigen detection.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1532-2750
Volume :
19
Issue :
10
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Journal of feline medicine and surgery
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
27694369
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1177/1098612X16670562