Publication Date
9-1-2025
Journal
Veterinary Medicine and Science
DOI
10.1002/vms3.70570
PMID
40827834
PMCID
PMC12362452
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
8-19-2025
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Abstract
Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, is a significant challenge for canine health, with limited diagnostic tools. This study assessed the performance of a novel Tc-24 recombinant antigen ELISA compared to three commercial diagnostic tests on 70 serum samples from kennel dogs in Texas. The Tc-24 ELISA demonstrated high sensitivity (87.5%) and specificity (91.2%) compared to Indirect Fluorescent Antibody (IFA) testing, with significant differences in Tc-24 optical density (OD) between positives and negatives (0.607 vs. 0.089, p < 0.001). When compared to Chagas Stat-Pak (SP), Tc-24 ELISA showed sensitivity and specificity values of 82.1% and 86.7%, respectively (p < 0.001). For Chagas Detect Plus (IB), the assay achieved a sensitivity of 80.0% and specificity of 93.1% (p < 0.001). Spearman correlation analysis revealed significant associations between Tc-24 OD and SP (r = 1.0, p = 0.0167), IB (r = 0.9, p = 0.0833) and IFA (r = 0.6273, p = 0.044). Elevated immunochromatographic values in commercial kits (SP or IB) correlated with Tc-24 OD (1.17 vs. 0.039, p < 0.001), achieving 100% sensitivity and 95.8% specificity based on positive results from commercial kits. These findings suggest that Tc-24 ELISA is a reliable and accurate serological tool for diagnosing T. cruzi infection in dogs, with the potential to enhance diagnostic capabilities in veterinary medicine.
Keywords
Animals, Dogs, Chagas Disease, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Dog Diseases, Trypanosoma cruzi, Pilot Projects, Sensitivity and Specificity, Antigens, Protozoan, Recombinant Proteins, Serologic Tests, Chagas disease, dogs, Tc‐24, Texas, Trypanosoma cruzi
Published Open-Access
yes
Recommended Citation
Mejia, Rojelio; Verocai, Guilherme G; Mosley, Ilana A; et al., "Evaluation of a Novel Tc-24 Recombinant Antigen ELISA for Serologic Detection of Trypanosoma cruzi Infection in Dogs: A Pilot Study" (2025). Faculty and Staff Publications. 4706.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/baylor_docs/4706