Proof of Concept of a Novel Multiepitope Recombinant Protein for the Serodiagnosis of Patients with Chagas Disease

Juliana Martins Machado, Isabela Amorim Gonçalves Pereira, Ana Clara Gontijo Maia, Mariana Ferraz Chaves Francisco, Lais Moreira Nogueira, Isadora Braga Gandra, Anna Julia Ribeiro, Kamila Alves Silva, Carlos Ananias Aparecido Resende, Jonatas Oliveira da Silva, Michelli dos Santos, Ana Alice Maia Gonçalves, Grasiele de Sousa Vieira Tavares, Miguel Angel Chávez-Fumagalli, Mariana Campos-da-Paz, Rodolfo Cordeiro Giunchetti, Manoel Otávio da Costa Rocha, Ana Thereza Chaves, Eduardo Antônio Ferraz Coelho, Alexsandro Sobreira Galdino

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Chagas disease remains a neglected disease that is considered to be a public health problem. The early diagnosis of cases is important to improve the prognosis of infected patients and prevent transmission. Serological tests are the method of choice for diagnosis. However, two serological tests are currently recommended to confirm positive cases. In this sense, more sensitive and specific serological tests need to be developed to overcome these current diagnosis problems. This study aimed to develop a new recombinant multiepitope protein for the diagnosis of Chagas disease, hereafter named rTC. The rTC was constructed based on amino acid sequences from different combinations of Trypanosoma cruzi antigens in the same polypeptide and tested using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect different types of Chagas disease. rTC was able to discriminate between indeterminate (IND) and cardiac (CARD) cases and cross-reactive diseases, as well as healthy samples, with 98.28% sensitivity and 96.67% specificity, respectively. These data suggest that rTC has the potential to be tested in future studies against a larger serological panel for the diagnosis of Chagas disease.

Original languageEnglish
Article number312
JournalPathogens
Volume12
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2023

Keywords

  • Chagas disease
  • immunodiagnosis
  • multiepitope
  • recombinant protein

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