Viral antigen production for the sorodiagnostic of the caprine arthritis – encephalitis virus using one test imunoenzimatic (ELISA)

Abstract

Caprine-arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV) is a small ruminant lentivírus, which causes chronicle and progressive illness characterized by encephalomyelitis, mastitis, pneumonia and arthritis. The diagnosis is based on the detection of antibodies against virus through Agar Gel immunodifussion test (AGIDT), a reference technique for CAEV. The objective of this work was to produce CAEV antigen from infected cell culture of goat sinovial membrane to use in a enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test. The pellet from infected cells was submitted to a treatment with SDS 0.1% for possible use as viral antigen in ELISA test. A total of 343 goat serum samples have been tested by indirect ELISA test and compared to AGIDT. The number of positives to ELISA test and AGIDT was 72 (21%) and 30 (8%), respectively. Moreover, the ELISA test detected an early seroconversion in 5 animals from a group of 13 goats during two years of continuous sampling. Relative to those tests, ELISA had a point estimate of 73, 3% sensitivity and 84 % specificity. ELISA test using a viral antigen above mentioned is shown to be effective, low-cost and sensitive for serological detection of antibodies to CAEV.