Detection of the polysaccharide antigen of Cryptoccus neoformans in body fluids by antibody-coated latex particle agglutination, first described by Bloomfield et al. in 1963 has become an important adjunct to the diagnosis of cryptococcal infection. The test is simple, sensitive and specific. Despite the increasing use of the latex agglutination test, there has been no report which compares the detection of cryptococal antigen by varius commercial kits. In this study, we compared the sensitivity of three commercial kits in the detection of cryptococcal antigen, the comparability of the height of cryptococcal antigen titers, and the occurrence of false-positive and false-negative results.
NIH ExPorter
NIH ExPorter