Haemonchus contortus is an important gastrointestinal nematode of small ruminants that causes significant mortality in goats worldwide. Diagnosis of this infection mainly depends on the evaluation of clinical signs and fecal examination. However, limitations often occur in early or mild infections. For this purpose, serological diagnosis seems to be more accurate and reliable. Ras domain-containing protein (Ras) is one of H. contortus's excretory and secretory products (ESPs) that can be isolated from different larval stages of the nematode. In this study, the recombinant H. contortus Ras domain-containing protein (rHcRas) was expressed and purified and its diagnostic potential was evaluated. Reactions between rHcRas and goat sera were tested using Western blotting (WB). The results showed that rHcRas could be recognized by sera as early as 14 days post infection (DPI), and antibodies against rHcRas in infected goats could be maintained for over 89 days. No reaction was found between rHcRas and antibodies against Trichinella spiralis, Fasciola hepatica, or Toxoplasma gondii. An indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was produced based on rHcRas. The optimal coating antigen (157 ng of rHcRas/well) and serum dilutions (1:50) were determined via checkerboard titration. Indirect ELISA based on rHcRas showed 87.5% sensitivity and 90.6% specificity. The cut-off values for this experiment were determined to be 0.324 (positive) and 0.273 (negative), respectively, and the variation coefficient (CV) was less than 15%. The results of the indirect ELISA in-field examination showed that 17.6% (9/51) of the goats were infected with H. contortus, higher than the fecal examination results (15.7%, 8/51). When compared the results of the indirect ELISA and necropsy testing, 98.0% (50/51) consistency was found. These results indicated that rHcRas was a potential antigen for the diagnosis of H. contortus infection in goats.
Keywords: Haemonchus contortus; Ras domain-containing protein; Western blotting; indirect ELISA; serological diagnosis.