Toxocara Canis ELISA Kit

Intended Use:
The Bordier Toxocara canis ELISA kit is intended for the quantitative detection of IgG antibodies against Toxocara canis in human serum. Serology is an aid for diagnosis and cannot be used as the sole method of diagnosis.

Background:
Toxocariasis is a worldwide zoonosis caused by Toxocara canis, a parasitic nematode of dogs, or T. mystax of cats. Humans can be infected by accidentally ingesting Toxocara embryonated eggs. Intestinal hatching of Toxocara larvae from eggs allows them to migrate to a wide variety of tissues, including liver, lungs, muscles, brain or eyes. Most infected people do not show any symptoms. However, in some cases, migrating larvae can induce Visceral Larva Migrans (VLM) or Ocular Larva Migrans (OLM) syndromes. Diagnosis is based on the presence of signs of VLM (eosinophilia, fever, cough, abdominal pain, hepatomegaly and rash), or OLM (ocular problems) plus a history of exposure and a positive result by serological testing.

Principle and Presentation:
The kit provides all the material needed to perform 96 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) on breakable microtitration wells sensitized with Toxocara canis excreted/secreted (E/S) larval antigens. Specific antibodies in the sample will bind to these antigens and washing will remove unspecific antibodies. The presence of parasite specific antibodies is detected with a Protein A – alkaline phosphatase conjugate. A second washing step will remove unbound conjugate. Revealing bound antibodies is made by the addition of pNPP substrate which turns yellow in the presence of alkaline phosphatase. Color intensity is proportional to the amount of Toxocara canis specific antibodies in the sample. Potassium phosphate is added to stop the reaction. Absorbance at 405 nm is read using an ELISA microplate reader.

The test can be performed with automatic systems, but this must be validated by the user.