Improved Microtechnique for the Leptospiral Microscopic Agglutination Test1

Abstract

A method for improving the original Galton microtechnique for detecting leptospiral antibodies has been developed. Simultaneous titrations were performed on 281 animal and human sera and 17 hyperimmune sera with the microscopic agglutination (MA) test and the improved microtechnique. Reproducibility of the improved microtechnique was determined independently on 65 animal sera by two laboratory sections. The results obtained by comparing positive test data from human and animal sera indicated that agreement between the original MA test and this new method exceeded 94%, whereas the original Galton microtechnique and the original MA test agreed in a maximum of 77% of the tests. This study indicates that the results obtained with the improved microtechnique are much more comparable to results obtained with the original MA test than are those obtained with the original Galton microtechnique.

Seroepidemiology of leptospirosis in southern Vietnamese children

“…The microscopic agglutination test (MAT) is the reference method for serological diagnosis of leptospirosis and it is more specific than ELISA (Cole et al 1973). However, the MAT is difficult to standardize, requires substantial laboratory facilities and expertise and is very labour intensive and costly.…”

Prevalence and Risk Factors Associated withLeptospiraspp. Infection in Technified Swine Farms in the State of Alagoas, Brazil Risk Factors Associated withLeptospiraspp. in Swine Farms

“…Serological diagnosis of Leptospira spp. infection were carried out in the Laboratory of Bacterial Reproductive Diseases, of the Biological Institute of São Paulo, through the microscopic serum-agglutination (MAT) test, according to Galton et al (1965) and Cole et al (1973), with a collection of living antigens that included the following serovars: Icterohaemorrhagiae, Canicola, Pomona, Grippotyphosa, Wolffi, Hardjo, Australis, Autumnalis, Bataviae, Bratislava, Butembo, Castellonis, Copenhageni, Cynopteri, Hebdomadis, Javanica, Panama, Pyrogenes, Shermani, Tarassovi, Whitcombi, Sentot and Mini. Sera were screened under the dilution of 1:100, and those presenting 50.0% or more of agglutination were titrated by means of a series of geometrical dilutions at the rate of two.…”

“…Sera were screened under the dilution of 1:100, and those presenting 50.0% or more of agglutination were titrated by means of a series of geometrical dilutions at the rate of two. Serum titration was the same as the highest dilution that presented a positive result (Cole et al, 1973;Delbem et al, 2002). A positive result was considered when the serum tested showed a titre equal or superior to 100, having 50% or more of agglutinated Leptospira spp.…”

Pathogen exposure in endangered island fox (Urocyon littoralis) populations: Implications for conservation management

“…Serologic assays for canine and feline viruses and Leptospira were conducted at the New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Cornell University (Ithaca, NY, USA). Serum samples from foxes on all six islands collected between 2001 and 2002 were assayed for antibodies against CDV, CAV, CCV and CHV, using serum neutralization (SN) tests (Appel and Robson, 1973); CPV using a hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) test (Carmichael et al, 1980) (positive titer P 1:10); and six Leptospira interrogans serovars (icterohaemorrhagiae, pomona, canicola, hardjo, grippotyphosa, and bratislava) using the microagglutination (MIA) test (Cole et al, 1973) (positive titer P 1:100). For CDV, the Onderstepoort viral strain was inoculated onto Vero cells.…”