EVALUATION OF THE IMMUNOPEROXIDASE TECHNIQUE AS A DIAGNOSTIC RESOURCE IN ANIMAL LEPTOPIROSIS

ABSTRACT

The indirect immunoperoxidase technique was evaluated comparatively to the silver impregnation technique (Warthin Starry) and bacterial isolation in hamster aiming at their use on tissues of leptospirosis-suspected animals. Sixty adult hamsters were divided in group A corresponding to animals inoculated with Leptospira pomona and group B to 20 non-infected animals. Kidneys of all animals were submitted to bacterial isolation, immunohistochemistry in paraffin embedded kidney section and glass slide imprints, and Warthin Starry and Hematoxilineosin staining. The immunohistochemistry techniques demonstrated high sensivity (100%) and specificity (100%). Compared to slide imprints, in tissue sections the preservation of the cellular architecture was maintained as well as the structural integrity of the antigen. High sensivity and specificity were also observed in the Whartin Starry technique although it is not considered to be a serovar specific technique. Positive culture results were obtained in 77.5% of the samples demonstrating lower sensivity compared to the other techniques.

KEY WORDS:
Immunoperoxidase; Leptospira pomona; diagnostic; hamsters.