Yersiniosis test kit SeraSpot®

IgAIgGIgM

The SeraSpot® Anti-Yersinia-6 IgG / SeraSpot® Anti-Yersinia-6 IgA test is an in vitro diagnostic device (spotimmunoassay, SIA) for the detection of Yersinia-specific IgG or IgA antibodies in human serum, plasma or synovial fluid samples. It can be used as screening assay as well as confirmatory assay after a positive ELISA result. General information: The genus Yersinia comprises gram-negative bacteria belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae. There are at least three Yersinia species which are pathogenic to human: Y. pestis, Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. enterocolitica. More than 60 serovariants are known from Y. enterocolitica (6, 11). The infection of humans is transmitted by the consumption of contaminated meat or sausages, unpasteurized milk or contaminated drinking water. The transmission by direct contact from person to person is rather seldom. The pathogens enter the Peyer´s patches of the small intestine, disseminate to lymphoid tissues and initiate a humoral immune response. In the first 2-3 weeks after the infection IgA and IgM class antibodies are dominating, then IgG antibodies are mainly detectable, which usually persist for several years. In cases of immunopathological complications and chronic forms of Yersinia infections IgA antibodies are detectable for a longer period of time. In patients with reactive arthritis IgA antibodies to specific Yersinia antigens may persist for up to 1 year. In these patients the corresponding antibody class is also detectable in the synovial fluid. The human pathogenic Yersinia species are characterized by a 70 kb plasmid encoding for cytosolic, membraneous and releasing proteins.