Table 1. Clinical and laboratory features of patients with visceral leishmaniasis (VL).
Parameters | PatientVL | Normal |
Number | Male (n = 20), Female (n = 20) | endemic area (n = 20), non-endemic area (n = 20) |
Age (yr) | 30±2.25 | 28±4.32 |
Height (m) | 1.55±0.72 | 1.65±0.52 |
Weight (kg) | 38.50±4.25 | 60±5.25 |
Body Mass Index (BMI)a | 16±0.55 | 22±1.25 |
Duration of illness (month) | 4.02±0.25 | Not applicable |
RBC count | 0.92–2.5×106/µl | 4.5–6.2×106/µl |
Leukocyte count (/mm3) | 3.48–3.55×103 | 5–11×103 |
Hemoglobin concn. (g/dl) | 5.32±0.32 | 11.5±2.2 |
Mean cell hemoglobin concn. (g/dl) | 30–31 g/dl | 30–36 g/dl |
Hematocrit (%) | 35 | 41–53 |
Reticulocyte count (%) | 4.25–5.05 | 0.5–2.5 |
Spleen size (cm) | 10.72±1.06 | Not palpable |
Splenic aspirate scoreb | 4.05±0.17 | Negative |
Bilirubin (mg/dl) | 1.5–2.5 | 0.9–1 |
Albumin (g/dl) | 3.0–3.5 | 3.5–5.5 |
Aminotransferase | Normal | Normal |
Alkalinephosphatase | Normal | Normal |
RBC-ELISAc | 0.9–1.12 | 0.2–0.3 |
BSM-ELISAd | 0.77–1.1 | 0.16–0.23 |
Parasite-ELISAe | 1.1–1.7 | 0.22–0.32 |
BMI is weight in kilograms divided by height square in meter, normal BMI = 18.5–24.9.
Splenic aspirate score is taken to be 4 when the number of parasites per microscopic field ranges from 1–10.
RBC-ELISA refers to the antigen-ELISA as described elsewhere [9]. The presence of 9-O-AcSGPs on RBCVL was determined by exploiting the binding specificity of a lectin, Achatinin-H, which has a restricted specificity towards 9-O-acetylated sialic acids [62] and therefore used as coating antigen. Briefly, Achatinin-H was immobilized in a 96-well plate and allowed to bind with RBC in 4°C for overnight. After washing, bound RBC was lysed by double distilled water. The extent of binding was determined by using a chromogenic substrate 2,7-diamino fluorine dihydrochloride and measuring absorbance values at 620 nm.
Anti-9-O-AcSGP antibody was detected by using BSM as coating antigen as described elsewhere [22].
Parasite specific antibody was detected by using parasite lysate as coating antigen as described elsewhere [8].