@article{99912,
  keywords = {recombinant chimeric antigen},
  author = {Assis BP and Chaves AT and Lage DP and Cardoso MM and Pereira IA and Câmara RS and Freitas CS and Martins VT and Ludolf F and de Oliveira ALG and Oliveira-da-Silva JA and Tavares GS and Galdino AS and Chávez-Fumagalli MA and Machado-de-Ávila RA and Christodoulides M and Gonçalves DU and Bueno LL and Fujiwara RT and Coelho EA and da Costa Rocha MO},
  title = {A recombinant chimeric antigen constructed with B-cell epitopes from Mycobacterium leprae hypothetical proteins is effective for the diagnosis of leprosy},
  abstract = {<p>The diagnosis if leprosy is difficult, as it requires clinical expertise and sensitive laboratory tests. In this study, we develop a serological test for leprosy by using bioinformatics tools to identify specific B-cell epitopes from&nbsp;<em>Mycobacterium leprae</em>&nbsp;hypothetical proteins, which were used to construct a recombinant chimeric protein, M1. The synthetic peptides were obtained and showed good reactivity to detect leprosy patients, although the M1 chimera have showed sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) values higher than 90.0% to diagnose both paucibacillary (PB) and multibacillary (MB) leprosy patients, but not those developing tegumentary or visceral leishmaniasis, tuberculosis, Chagas disease, malaria, histoplasmosis and aspergillosis, in ELISA experiments. Using sera from household contacts, values for Se and Sp were 100% and 65.3%, respectively. In conclusion, our proof-of-concept study has generated data that suggest that a new recombinant protein could be developed into a diagnostic antigen for leprosy.</p>
},
  year = {2024},
  journal = {Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease},
  publisher = {Elsevier BV},
  issn = {0732-8893},
  doi = {10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2024.116338},
  language = {Eng},
}