Affiliations 

  • 1 Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM), Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Penang, Malaysia
  • 2 School of Pharmacy, Monash University Malaysia, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 47500, Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 3 Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM), Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Penang, Malaysia. eugene@usm.my
Med Microbiol Immunol, 2020 Oct;209(5):593-601.
PMID: 32246197 DOI: 10.1007/s00430-020-00667-1

Abstract

Typhoid fever is a disease caused by Salmonella Typhi that was implicated in millions of illnesses worldwide annually. Individuals that do not recover fully from typhoid fever can become asymptomatic carriers of the disease. Host antibodies against the S. Typhi antigens, HlyE (for acute typhoid) and YncE (for carriers) were previously reported to be useful biomarkers for the disease. Here, we expressed and purified recombinant HlyE and YncE antigens and tested the IgG, IgA and IgM responses in 422 sera samples retrieved from acute typhoid patients, other febrile, food handlers, and healthy individuals. The results showed that HlyE-IgG, -IgA and -IgM ELISAs have a collective sensitivity of 83% while YncE-IgG and -IgA ELISAs identified 16 possible carriers based on their antibody profiles. The identification of sensitive biomarkers for typhoid carrier detection is crucial for disease eradication.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.