A study of serum antibody levels against Entamoeba histolytica in patients with different amoebic zymodemes.

The present study has looked into relative agreement between Clinical diagnosis, Indirect fluorescent Antibody Test and Iso-enzyme grouping in 35 patients with E histolytica infection. Thirty Caucasians, who had never travelled to Tropical Countries were chosen as negative control subjects. There was no remarkable difference in the mean amoebic antibody levels observed with the control subjects and patients harbouring amoebic zymodeme I or III or IV. Whereas, comparative analysis revealed a significant difference (P less than 0.01) between the mean reciprocal antibody titres observed with patients harbouring Isoenzyme group II amoebae and control subjects. The hypothesis that invasive amoebiasis and infection with E. histolytica zymodeme II were positively related was supported IFAT was found more sensitive than isoenzyme grouping in the detection of invasive amoebiasis, but the latter method appeared more reliable in differentiating dysenteric from asymptomatic intestinal amoebiasis.