Short Report: Detection of 72–75-kD and 123-kD Fractions of Leishmania Antigen in Urine of Patients with Visceral Leishmaniasis

Abstract

Two polypeptide fractions of 72–75 kD were detected in the urine of 14 of 15 patients with visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and another fraction of 123 kD was found in 10 of the 15 patients by using a Western blot technique. None of these fractions was detected in the urine of 20 controls. These results suggest that antigen detection in urine could be a powerful, noninvasive method for VL diagnosis.