Evaluation of a direct agglutination test and methylene blue dye test in diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis.

The usefulness and sensitivity of a direct agglutination test (DAT) in the diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis infection has been investigated. Trypsin treated, formalin fixed and coomassie blue stained Leishmania promastigotes were used as antigens: L. infantum, L. donovani, L. aethiopica. Although the titres of sera from patients with localized cutaneous leishmaniasis were low, sera from lepromatous, tuberculous and toxoplasmic patients gave high titres indicating cross reactivity. Comparable results were obtained when the same sera were tested using freshly prepared antigen or antigens stored for 5 months at 4 degrees C, and with addition of 0.78% 2-mercaptoethanol to the diluent.