Hydatidosis is one of the most important diseases common between animals and human beings. Caused by Echinococcus granulosus tapeworm, the disease has a global epidemic. The serological diagnostic tests that are now utilized to confirm the imaging approaches have some drawbacks such as low sensitivity and cross-reaction with the serum of the patients infected with other parasites. The application of recombinant and synthetic antigens has proven improvement in the functionality of serological diagnostic tests. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the expression and purification of truncated recombinant B8/1 (trB8/1) antigen and its application in ELISA for diagnosis of hydatid infection in human. The tEgB8/1 was colonized in the expression vector pET28b (+) and expressed in different strains of E. coli. This protein was purified by Ni2+-NTA chromatography. The antigenicity of the protein was evaluated by Western blotting and ELISA. In the test, 50 positive serum samples from hydatid infected patients, 50 samples from healthy people, and 30 serum samples from patients with other parasitic diseases were used to determine the sensitivity and the specificity of this antigen. The measured sensitivity and specificity of this antigen were identified to be 75.75% and 96.38% respectively. The P value of <0.0001 by using ROC curve, confirmed that this antigen is able to differentiate between healthy and hydatid-infected individuals. Considering the excellent specificity of this antigen and in order to enhance the sensitivity, it is recommended to use a combination of this antigen with other antigens (e.g., EgB8/2-8/5).
Keywords: ELISA; Echinococcus granulosus; Protein expression; Purification; Truncated EgB8/1; Western blotting.
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