Low positive predictive value of anti-Brugia malayi IgG and IgG4 serology for the diagnosis of Wuchereria bancrofti

Abstract

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for anti-Brugia malayi immunoglobulin (Ig) G and IgG4 were evaluated on sera from 1561 subjects in French Polynesia for the serodiagnosis of Wuchereria bancrofti filariasis, compared with the test for Onchocerca gibsoni circulating antigen (Og4C3) as a 'gold standard'. The sensitivity of the ELISA-IgG and ELISA-IgG4 assays was 90.8% and 94.5%, and the specificity was 45.9% and 50.7%. The positive predictive values were 41% and 45% respectively for an antigen prevalence rate of 30%. Thus antibody prevalences exceeded by two-fold the antigen prevalence, which itself exceeded by two-fold the prevalence of microfilaraemia.