The evaluation of diagnostic tests for determining the Toxoplasma gondii antibody status of organ transplant donors and recipients

Abstract

Ten commercially available assays (two passive latex agglutination assays, seven ELISAs and an immuno-blot filtration assay) for detecting Toxoplasma gondii-specific antibodies were evaluated using 168 serum samples from organ donors and transplant recipients. Results were compared with the ‘gold standard’ Sabin-Feldman dye test to give values for sensitivity and specificity for each kit. These ranged from 86.0% to 97.4% for sensitivity and from 93.6% to 100% for specificity. From these results recommendations for a kit of choice for testing organ donors and transplant recipients were formulated.