A set of recombinant antigens from Echinococcus granulosus with potential for use in the immunodiagnosis of human cystic hydatid disease

Clin Exp Immunol. 2003 May;132(2):309-15. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2249.2003.02123.x.

Abstract

Several recombinant clones expressing antigens from Echinococcus granulosus were isolated previously from a parasite cDNA library using cystic hydatid disease (CHD) patients' sera or rabbit hyperimmune antiserum against a lipoproteic fraction from bovine cyst fluid. Six of these antigens were expressed in Escherichia coli and the purified recombinant proteins were tested in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for specific IgG with a panel of sera from patients with surgically confirmed (n = 58) or immunologically diagnosed (n = 71) CHD. Sera from clinically normal individuals (n = 203) and sera from individuals with other helminthic infections (n = 65) were assayed for the assessment of specificity. A cut-off value was determined by receiver-operating-characteristic plots for each antigen. A recombinant antigen B subunit (AgB8/2) presented the highest sensitivity (93.1%), considering the group of sera from patients with CHD surgically confirmed, and specificity (99.5%) and is proposed as the basis for an immunodiagnostic test. The other recombinant antigens tested presented sensitivities between 58.6% and 89.7%, and three of them were considered of complementary value. In subclass-specific ELISA, different IgG isotypes showed dominance in the response for each of the recombinant antigens. There was a clear predominance of IgG4 response for all antigens tested, indicating that this would be the subclass of choice to be assessed for these recombinant proteins.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antigens, Helminth / immunology
  • Antigens, Helminth / isolation & purification*
  • Area Under Curve
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Echinococcosis / diagnosis
  • Echinococcosis / immunology*
  • Echinococcus / immunology*
  • Epitopes / immunology
  • Epitopes / isolation & purification
  • Escherichia coli / immunology
  • Humans
  • Immunoglobulin G / analysis
  • ROC Curve
  • Recombinant Proteins / immunology
  • Recombinant Proteins / isolation & purification
  • Serologic Tests

Substances

  • Antigens, Helminth
  • Epitopes
  • Immunoglobulin G
  • Recombinant Proteins