BRUCELLA

Brucellosis is an infectious disease caused by small, gram-negative, rod-shaped bacteria: there are 7 distinct species but only four species infect humans: B. abortus, B. melitensis, B. suis and B. canis. People are infected by contact with infected animals or by eating meat or drinking unpasteurized milk; infected humans are not contagious. Brucellosis, for which endangered people are butchers, farmers, owners of pets, veterinaries and laboratory staff, appears in prevalence during winter and spring and the incubation period is between one and three weeks, but may be as long as two months. It is a systemic disease, which can damage different joints and organs and is characterized by not specific symptoms such as fever, sweating; sometimes it can be lymph-adenomegaly, hepatomegaly and splenomegaly. The monitoring of antibodies’ titer can serve as an indication of the status of infection: during the first days, IgM is the only immunoglobulin that appears; as the disease progresses, IgM recedes quantitatively and IgG becomes predominant. In chronic brucellosis, IgG may be produced for an extended period.

Metodica:

The Chorus Brucella IgG and IgM device are ready to use for the detection of IgG and IgM antibodies against Brucella, in the Chorus/Chorus TRIO instruments.
The test is based on the ELISA principle (Enzyme linked ImmunoSorbent Assay). The antigen is bound to the solid phase. The specific immunoglobulins are bound to the antigen through incubation with diluted human serum.
After washing to eliminate the proteins which have not reacted, incubation is performed with the conjugate, composed of anti-human IgG monoclonal antibodies conjugated to horseradish peroxidase. The unbound conjugate is eliminated, and the peroxidase substrate added. The blue colour which develops is proportional to the concentration of specific antibodies present in the serum sample.
The disposable devices contain all the reagents to perform the test when applied on the Chorus/Chorus TRIO instruments.
The results are expressed in Index (OD sample/OD cut-off).