Diagnostic methods for leptospirosis (an important zoonotic disease in Iran)
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Nazanin Moghaddam,1,*
1. Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, Department of Clinical Research, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
- Introduction: Leptospirosis is a common disease between humans and domestic and wild animals and is important in terms of economic impact on rural areas. Humans become infected by scratching the skin and mucous membranes following contact with contaminated water and soil in the urine of infected animals. It is associated with acute kidney damage, liver disorders, brain involvement, and pulmonary hemorrhage in humans. Leptospirosis needs warm, humid conditions to survive. The peak of the disease occurs during the warmer months of the year in temperate climates in the rainy season in the tropics.
- Methods: The PubMed, Google Scholar and Scopus databases were searched for the purpose of finding studies and nine articles were studied.
- Results: Diagnosis of leptospirosis is based on both clinical examinations and serological tests, including microscopic agglutination tests (MAT) and diagnosis of DNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and isolation of the organism through culture methods or detection of antibodies to the organism. MAT is the most common serological test for diagnosis. This is a reference test in which all other tests are evaluated and is a diagnostic test designated for international trade. Although the MAT test is a reference method, it has limitations, including low sensitivity in the acute phase of the disease, which surface IgM rise and There is no ability to differentiate IgM from IgG.
- Conclusion: Nowadays, recombinant antigen methods and molecular tests are used as alternative methods.
- Keywords: Leptospirosis, MAT, PCR
