Produção de anticorpos monoclonais murinos dirigidos contra os isótipos IgM e IgG de Alouatta guariba clamitans: aplicação no diagnóstico sorológico da toxoplasmose em animais de vida livre e mantidos em cativeiro

Abstract

The International Union for Conservation of Nature includes the Alouatta guariba clamitans, as well as other species of the genus Alouatta, in the Red List of Threatened Species, considering them vulnerable. Serological assays involving wild animals have limitations due to the difficulty of obtaining immunological species specific reagents. Seropositivity may vary depending upon the conjugate used: homologus, heterologous or affinity immunoenzymatic and immunofluorescence assays. This study was conducted at the Laboratory of Immunoparasitology of the Federal University of Uberlândia-MG. We produced a monoclonal antibody against IgM isotype howler monkey (Alouatta guariba clamintans) and verify the positivity, to Toxoplasma gondii, in captivity and free-living animals from the town Indaial, S.C., Brazil. Using the monoclonal antibody AL1B4, two captive animals showed seropositivity for T. gondii by ELISA (7.7%) and IFA (7.7%). The occurrence of infection with T. gondii was found in 58.3% of the animals, as expressed by the detection of IgG while 5.6% of this population was detected for IgM anti-T. gondii. By immunoturbidimetry a higher concentration of IgM was shown in two seropositive animals that were also positive by technique of immunohistochemistry. The monoclonal antibody showed to have a sensitivity suitable for the use in immunoassays and also could be used for the diagnosis of other infectious diseases, harmful to non-human primates.