Detection of Fasciola gigantica infection in buffaloes by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

The process of isolation of the 27-kDa glycoprotein from the somatic antigen of Fasciola gigantica was standardized and the diagnostic potentiality was evaluated for the detection of bubaline fasciolosis by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Initially, the test was standardized using the sera from experimentally noninfected(n = 20) and infected (n = 5)animals. Further, the sensitivity and the specificity of the test were evaluated through the sera of buffaloes with different natural infections, i.e., F. gigantica (n = 8 animals), F. gigantica and Gastrothylax crumenifer(n = 15), F. gigantica and Gigantocotyle explanatum (n = 6), trematode infections other than F. gigantica (n = 9), only G. crumenifer (n = 36), only G. explanatum (n = 18), G. crumenifer and G. explanatum positive (n = 39), and PM negative (n = 102). All animals came from the slaughterhouses of Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh, India) and Patna (Bihar, India). The level of sensitivity observed in the present study was 81.0%, while 97-98% specificity against G. crumenifer, G. explanatum, or a mixed infection with both parasites was noted. The study showed F. gigantica prevalence rate of 18-20% in the buffaloes of the study area. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with a 27-kDa glycoprotein could be a feasible diagnostic method for the early detection of bovine fasciolosis.