Isolation and molecular characterization of recombinant Echinococcus granulosus P29 protein (recP29) and its assessment for the post-surgical serological follow-up of human cystic echinococcosis in young patients

Abstract

SummaryWe synthesized recombinant Echinococcus granulosus protoscolex recP29 antigen to be preliminarily assessed by ELISA and immunoblotting. RecP29-serology was carried out on 54 young patients with cystic echinococcosis (CE). Patients were classified into either cured (CCE) (n = 40) or non-cured (NCCE) (n = 14) CE patients. RecP29 ELISA showed a gradual decrease of antibody concentrations in all CCE cases that were initially (before treatment) seropositive to this antigen (25 out of 40) or that seroconverted following treatment. A complete seronegativity was reached within 3 years post-surgery in all of these cases. Conventional HCF ELISA yielded seronegativity in only 10% of initially recP29-seropositive CCE patients (P = 0.086). Likewise, recP29 immunoblotting yielded seronegativity in 93% of 29 out of 40 initially recP29-immunoblot-positive CCE patients after 3 years follow-up, compared with 72% in the HCF immunoblotting (P = 0.060). Eleven out of 14 NCCE patients were initially positive by recP29 ELISA, and 10 out of these maintained a marked anti-recP29 antibody reactivity until the endpoint of the follow-up period. All 14 NCCE cases were initially seropositive by recP29 immunoblotting, and 13 cases remained seropositive until the end of the study. Thus, recombinant P29 protein appears prognostically useful for monitoring those post-surgical CE cases with an initial seropositivity to this marker.

Spatiotemporal Expression Patterns and Antibody Reactivity of Taeniidae Endophilin B1

“…Echinococcus granulosus P29 antigen has proved useful for diagnosis and posttreatment monitoring of CE patients (15)(16)(17)29). This study provides evidence that TsMEndoB1 may be applicable for serodiagnosis of NC and other Taeniidae infections, such as CE and AE.…”

“…TsMEnodoB1 and/or Echinococcus orthologs may be beneficial for follow-up monitoring of patients to evaluate treatment efficacy (16,17,42). The protein might also be applicable for detection of chronic infections in cases in which imaging tests yield ambiguous findings and/or serum shows marginal negative or positive responses.…”

“…Moreover, it was reported to be a potential biomarker for posttreatment monitoring of CE patients. Serum levels of specific antibodies against P29 antigen gradually decreased after successful treatments (17).…”

A Study of Cross-Reactivity Between Recombinant EPC1 Antigen of Echinococcus granulosus in Serum from Patients with Confirmed Cystic Echinococcosis Infection and Other Parasitic Infections

“…Several recombinant antigens and synthetic peptides have been used for CE serodiagnosis in humans. [9][10][11][12][15][16][17][18] A highly antigenic protein, named EPC1, was characterized and isolated from a protoscolex (larval) stage and is encoded by the EPC1 gene. 13,17 Our previous study was aimed to assess the sequence of EPC1 isolated from different intermediate hosts of E. granulosus, including sheep (G1 strain) and camel (G6 strain).…”

Immunoblotting with Human Native Antigen Shows Stage-Related Sensitivity in the Serodiagnosis of Hepatic Cystic Echinococcosis

“…Despite the constant search for new molecular tools, 11,12 however, current serological tests lack sensitivity and cannot predict the evolution of cysts either after treatment or spontaneously. 7,11 IB is one of the most sensitive and specific techniques, and it is generally used as a confirmatory test when routinely used assays such as IHA and ELISA are inconclusive. Sheep HCF, and native or recombinant AgB, and Ag5 are the main antigens used in IB.…”