Saliva ELISA: a method for the diagnosis of chronic Chagas disease in endemic areas

An indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was applied to saliva to detect chronic infection by Trypanosoma cruzi in humans. Saliva samples from 114 Chagas’ disease chronically infected individuals, characterized by three serological tests and clinical evaluation and from 100 healthy controls were tested for T. cruzi specific IgG antibodies. At dilution of 1 in 2, specific antibodies were detected in saliva samples from 103 of 114 samples from infected patients and 5 of 100 controls (sensitivity 90.4%, specificity 95%). There was no significant correlation between the antibody titre and cardiac or gastrointestinal tract disease. This assay possesses some advantages over other methods as saliva collection is non-invasive, requires no special equipment and whole saliva gave reproducible results. Although serology remains the gold standard for T. cruzi infection, these results suggest that T. cruzi specific salivary antibody detection may provide a screening diagnostic test and contribute to epidemiological studies of chronic trypanosomiasis infection in endemic areas.