There are essentially no reports on the use of modern biotechnological methods on the study of cestode parasites in the Philippines, Indonesia or Malaysia. The only recent reports of cestode studies in these countries have been on reports of new species in animals and on prevalence rates of cestode parasites in humans; Taenia solium and cysticercosis, Taenia saginata and Hymenolepis nana, etc. Reports on the use of biotechnology has emanated from outside the area on cestodes of humans and animals, and some of these methods could be used to study cestodes in this part of the world.
A rapid antibody detection test is very useful for the detection of lymphatic filariasis, especially for certification and surveillance of post-mass drug administration. panLF Rapid kit is suitable for this purpose since it can detect all species of lymphatic filaria. It is based on the detection of anti-filarial IgG4 antibodies that react with recombinant B. malayi antigens, BmR1 and BmSXP. There is an increase demand for the test due to its attributes of being rapid, sensitive and specific results, as well as its field-applicability. The main aim of this paper is to obtain high recovery and purity of recombinant antigen BmSXP via a modified method of immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC). The highest product yield of 11.82 mg/g dry cell weight (DCW) was obtained when IMAC was performed using the optimized protocol of 10 mM imidazole concentration in lysis buffer, 30 mM imidazole concentration in wash buffer, and 10 column volume wash buffer containing 300 mM salt concentration. This gave a 54% protein recovery improvement over the manufacturer's protocol which recorded a product yield of only 7.68 mg/g DCW. The recovered BmSXP recombinant antigen showed good western blot reactivity, high sensitivity (31/32, 97%) and specificity (32/32, 100%) in ELISA, thus attesting to its good purity and quality.
Human gnathostomiasis is an emerging food-borne parasitic disease caused by nematodes of the genus Gnathostoma. Currently, serological tests are commonly applied to support clinical diagnosis. In the present study, a simple and rapid filtration-based test, dot immune-gold filtration assay (DIGFA) was developed using a partially purified antigen of Gnathostoma third-stage larvae (L3). A total of 180 serum samples were tested to evaluate the diagnostic potential of DIGFA for gnathostomiasis. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were 96.7% (29/30) and 100% (25/25), respectively. The cross-reactivity with sera from other helminthiasis patients ranged from 0 to 4%, with an average of 1.6% (2/125). DIGFA using a partially purified L3 antigen was not only simple and rapid, but also more accurate than standard assays for the diagnosis of human gnathostomiasis. DIGFA may represent a promising tool for application in laboratories or in the field, without requiring any instrumentation.
Laboratory diagnosis of toxocariasis is still a challenge especially in developing endemic countries with polyparasitism. In this study, three Toxocara canis recombinant antigens, rTES-26, rTES-30, and rTES-120, were expressed and used to prepare lateral flow immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4) dipsticks. The concordance of the results of the rapid test (comprising three dipsticks) with a commercial IgG-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (Cypress Diagnostics, Belgium) was compared against the concordance of two other commercial IgG-ELISA kits (Bordier, Switzerland and NovaTec, Germany) with the Cypress kit. Using Toxocara-positive samples, the concordance of the dipstick dotted with rTES-26, rTES-30, and rTES-120 was 41.4% (12/29), 51.7% (15/29), and 72.4% (21/29), respectively. When positivity with any dipstick was considered as an overall positive rapid test result, the concordance with the Cypress kit was 93% (27/29). Meanwhile, when compared with the results of the Cypress kit, the concordance of IgG-ELISA from NovaTec and Bordier was 100% (29/29) and 89.7% (26/29), respectively. Specific IgG4 has been recognized as a marker of active infection for several helminthic diseases; therefore, the two non-concordant results of the rapid test when compared with the NovaTec IgG-ELISA kit may be from samples of people with non-active infection. All the three dipsticks showed 100% (50/50) concordance with the Cypress kit when tested with serum from individuals who were healthy and with other infections. In conclusion, the lateral flow rapid test is potentially a good, fast, and easy test for toxocariasis. Next, further validation studies and development of a test with the three antigens in one dipstick will be performed.