[PubMed] [Google Scholar] 2. parasitism. Higher IgG and IgE levels were positively correlated with the infection condition and parasite weight, but not with the clinical status. In all groups, total IgG was the predominant antibody, which occurred at the expense of IgG2 instead of IgG1. Most of the infected dogs tested positive for IgG (SP+, 98.1%; AP+, 95.2%), whereas this was not observed with IgE (SP+, 80.8%; AP+, 71.2%). The most relevant obtaining was the high positivity of the uninfected dogs for sorolgico de c?es, em rea endmica de leishmaniose visceral, e sua correla??o com a infec??o parasitolgica dos animais. MTODOS A resposta humoral canina foi AFN-1252 avaliada no soro de 134 c?es pelo mtodo ELISA e pela imuno-histoqumica, para detectar parasitos na pele, linfonodo e ba?o desses animais. Os anticorpos especficos investigados foram IgG, IgG1, IgG2 e IgE. RESULTADOS De acordo com os achados parasitolgicos, laboratoriais e clnicos, os c?es foram alocados em um dos quatro grupos: assintomticos com (AP+, n = 21) e sem (AP-, n = 36) parasitismo tecidual por e sintomticos com (SP+, n = 52) ou sem (SP-, n = 25) parasitismo. Nveis mais elevados de IgG e IgE se correlacionaram positivamente com o de infec??o e a carga parasitria, mas n?o com a condi??o clnica. Em todos os grupos, IgG total foi o anticorpo predominante, com maior concentra??o de IgG2 que IgG1. O anticorpo IgG foi positivo em propor??o elevada nos animais infectados (SP+ 98,1%; AP+ 95,2%), mas n?o o IgE (SP+ 80,8%; AP+ 71,2%). O achado mais relevante refere-se aos c?es n?o infectados que apresentaram elevada positividade para anticorpos IgG anti-(SP- 60,0%; AP- 44,4%), IgE (SP- 44,0%; AP- 27,8%), IgG1 (SP- AFN-1252 28,0%; AP- 22,2%) e IgG2 (SP- 56,0%; AP- 41,7%). CONCLUS?ES O sorolgico dos c?es, determinado por qualquer classe ou subclasse de AFN-1252 anticorpos, n?o distinguiu com acurcia c?es infectados por daqueles n?o infectados. A imprecis?o do resultado sorolgico pode prejudicar n?o s o diagnstico, mas tambm as investiga??es epidemiolgicas e as estratgias para o controle da leishmaniose visceral. Esse complexo cenrio sorolgico observado na rea endmica mostra qu?o desafiador o AFN-1252 diagnstico canino, e aponta a dificuldade enfrentada pelos mdicos veterinrios e coordenadores dos programas de controle. INTRODUCTION Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is regarded worldwide as a public health problem of increasing importance. 15 The domestic dog is considered the main reservoir of the Leishmania pathogen, and from an epidemiological point of view, canine visceral leishmaniasis (canVL) is usually of considerable importance because canine disease precedes the occurrence FLJ34463 of human cases, and a group of infected animals can serve as source of contamination for the vector. 5 , 7 In Brazil, the major prophylactic practices for disease control include the systematic and early treatment of human cases, in addition to vector control and removal of seropositive dogs. 15 Serology is usually, by far, the most commonly used diagnostic tool in large surveys and in clinics. However, this method has been seriously criticized, as it frequently fails to identify asymptomatic dogs, 17 is not capable of differentiating infected animals from vaccinated ones, 9 and frequently shows cross-reactivity with sera from dogs infected with other pathogens. 3 Thus, the producing inaccuracies in diagnosing canVL has led to unnecessary culling of dogs or even the maintenance of infected dogs in areas of transmission, both of which decrease the effectiveness of the Brazilian control program. 1 Total IgG is the only anti-antibody that is routinely inspected. Other classes and IgG subclasses of antibodies have been analyzed; however, these effects were geared towards detecting markers related to clinical prognosis or vaccination status 2 , 6 , 14 and evaluating the efficacy of treatments. 10 , 24 , 25 Nevertheless, the practical use and the reliability of AFN-1252 these markers for diagnostic purposes remain unclear. The objective of this study was to investigate the serological status of dogs living in an endemic area for VL and its correlation with the.