Commercially available serological methods for serodiagnosis of human
anisakiasis either are poorly specific or do not include some of the most relevant Anisakis
allergens. The use of selected recombinant
allergens may improve serodiagnosis. To compare the diagnostic and clinical values of
enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay (ELISA) methods based on Ani s 1 and Ani s 7 recombinant
allergens and of the UniCAP 100 fluorescence
enzyme immunoassay (CAP FEIA) system, we tested sera from 495 allergic and 25 non-food-related allergic patients. The decay in specific
IgE antibodies in serum was also investigated in 15 positive patients over a period of 6 to 38 months. Considering sera that tested positive by either Ani s 1 or Ani s 7 ELISA, the CAP FEIA classified 25% of sera as falsely positive, mainly in the group of patients with the lowest levels of anti-Anisakis
IgE antibodies, and 1.28% of positive sera as falsely negative. Considering
allergens individually, the overall sensitivities of Ani s 7 ELISA and Ani s 1 ELISA were 94% and 61%, respectively. The results also showed that anti-Anisakis
IgE antibodies can be detected in serum for longer with Ani s 1 ELISA than with Ani s 7 ELISA and CAP FEIA (P < 0.01). Our findings suggest that ELISA methods with Ani s 7 and Ani s 1
allergens as targets of
IgE antibodies are currently the best option for serodiagnosis of human
anisakiasis, combining specificity and sensitivity. The different persistence of anti-Ani s 1 and anti-Ani s 7
antibodies in serum may help clinicians to distinguish between recent and old
Anisakis infections.