Candida albicans IgA ELISA
The IMMUNOLAB Candida albicans IgA Antibody ELISA Test Kit has been designed for the the detection and the quantitative determination of specific IgA antibodies against Candida albicans in serum and plasma. Further applications in other body fluids are possible and can be requested from the Technical Service of IMMUNOLAB.
Invasive candidal mycosis (synonyms: candidosis, candidiasis) account for more than 80% of the cases of deep-seated mycoses in Germany. This incidence is similar to those of other industrial countries. The main causative agent is the yeast Candida albicans, which is the only fungal species belonging to the „normal“ microflora. Candida albicans has a low pathogenic potential, which rarely allows it to infect a healthy host. Rather, in immunosuppressed patients it may cause several diseases as an opportunistic pathogen.
In candidal mycosis three types of disease can be distinguished. First, Candida albicans can infect the skin and the mucous membranes of the outer genitals, mouth, respiratory tract and digestion tract. Second, skin and mucous membranes may be infected, encouraged by factors like pregnancy, diabetes mellitus, immunodeficiency and therapies with cytostatics or antibiotics. Third, the infestation of the inner organs, for example the lungs in a Candida sepsis can cause death in immunosuppressed patients with a cellular immunodeficiency.
Serological tests are frequently used to ascertain the clinical significance of Candida spp. isolates. Rising titers of lgG antibodies to Candida albicans may reflect invasive candidiasis in immunocompetent patients. The detection of IgA and IgM antibodies is important to identify a fresh infection. Immunosuppressed patients often fail to produce antibodies, so a negative antibody test does not necessarily rule out the disease. In this case the use of an antigen detection test is recommended. Besides the detection of antibodies and antigen, the site of manifestation, the number of colony-forming units, and the concomitant use of antimycotics must be considered.
The IMMUNOLAB Candida albicans IgA antibody test kit is based on the principle of the enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Candida albicans antigen is bound on the surface of the microtiter strips. Diluted patient serum or ready-to-use standards are pipetted into the wells of the microtiter plate. A binding between the IgA antibodies of the serum and the immobilized Candida albicans antigen takes place. After a one hour incubation at room temperature, the plate is rinsed with diluted wash solution, in order to remove unbound material. Then ready-to-use anti-human-IgA peroxidase conjugate is added and incubated for 30 minutes. After a further washing step, the substrate (TMB) solution is pipetted and incubated for 20 minutes, inducing the development of a blue dye in the wells. The color development is terminated by the addition of a stop solution, which changes the color from blue to yellow. The resulting dye is measured spectrophotometrically at the wavelength of 450 nm. The concentration of the IgA antibodies is directly proportional to the intensity of the color.
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