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The order Rickettsiales consists of the family Rickettsiaceae and the family Anaplasmataceae. The family Rickettsiaceae contains the genus Rickettsia and the genus Orientia. Members of the family Rickettsiaceae are short rods or coccobacilli, and members of the family Anaplasmataceae are small pleomorphic cocci. The family Bartonellaceae consists of two genera, one of which, Bartonella, includes human pathogens belonging to the α2-group proteobacteria. Currently, the principal techniques used for the serodiagnosis of rickettsial diseases are probe-based immunoassays. Immunoprobe-based tests include the indirect fluorescence assay (IFA) and its micromodification, the micro-IF (MIF) test. The MIF test is still considered as the gold standard. Other immunoprobe tests include immunoperoxidase assays (IPAs); enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), in which the antigens are adsorbed either onto the well of a microtiter plate or onto nitrocellulose in a dot blot or slot blot configuration; and immunoblot assays (IBAs). IFAs and IPAs require the whole bacterium as the antigen. The remaining immunoprobe assays use either highly purified rickettsiae or an extract. The development of real-time PCR-based diagnosis and rapid PCR-based diagnostic methods has been the focus of much attention in many research laboratories. Recently, a protein-based method for the detection of the small-cell variant protein A (ScvA) plus other protein markers comprising a Coxiella fingerprint via matrix-assisted laser desorption-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry has been developed. |
