Abstract
Human toxocariasis (HT) is a cosmopolitan zoonotic disease caused by the migration of the larval stage of the roundworm Toxocara canis. Current HT diagnostic methods do not discriminate between active and past infections. Here, we present a method to quantify Toxocara excretory/secretory antigen, aiming to identify active cases of HT. High specificity is achieved by employing nanobodies (Nbs), single domain antigen binding fragments from camelid heavy chain-only antibodies. High sensitivity is obtained by the design of an electrochemical magnetosensor with an amperometric read-out. Reliable detection of TES antigen at 10 and 30 pg/mL level was demonstrated in phosphate buffered saline and serum, respectively. Moreover, the assay showed no cross-reactivity with other nematode antigens. To our knowledge, this is the most sensitive method to quantify the TES antigen so far. It also has great potential to develop point of care diagnostic systems in other conditions where high sensitivity and specificity are required.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 11582-11588 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Analytical chemistry |
| Volume | 91 |
| Issue number | 18 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 17 Sept 2019 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
This project was funded by the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek-Vlaanderen (FWO-Flanders, Project G.0189.13N) and BOF UAntwerp. The authors acknowledge Prof. Pierre Dorny (Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp) and Dr. Beatrice Nickel (Swiss Institute of Tropical Medicine) for providing the antigens needed for the cross-reactivity experiments.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| BOF UAntwerp | |
| FWO-Flanders | G.0189.13N |
| Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek |