EVALUATION OF A RECOMBINANT PARASITE ANTIGEN FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF LYMPHATIC FILARIASIS

We evaluated the usefulness of a recombinant parasite antigen (recSXP1) for the serologic diagnosis of lymphatic filariasis. A large proportion of sera from microfilaremic donors living in five different endemic countries (356 of 446 [80%]) contained IgG antibodies to recSXP1, as do sera from similar to 33% of amicrofilaremic patients with acute filarial disease and/or indirect evidence of active filarial infection. Exposure to filarial worms per se does not appear sufficient to elicit an anti-SXP1 antibody response. Thus, this serologic test identifies a large proportion of persons with active lymphatic filariasis among residents of endemic areas.