title: Isolation and molecular characterization of recombinant Echinococcus granulosus P29 protein (recP29) and its assessment for the post-surgical serological follow-up of human cystic echinococcosis in young patients.
abstract: We synthesized recombinant Echinococcus granulosus protoscolex recP29 antigen to be preliminarily assessed by ELISA and immunoblotting. RecP29-serology was carried out on 54 young patients with cystic echinococcosis (CE). Patients were classified into either cured (CCE) (n=40) or non-cured (NCCE) (n=14) CE patients. RecP29 ELISA showed a gradual decrease of antibody concentrations in all CCE cases that were initially (before treatment) seropositive to this antigen (25 out of 40) or that seroconverted following treatment. A complete seronegativity was reached within 3 years post-surgery in all of these cases. Conventional HCF ELISA yielded seronegativity in only 10% of initially recP29-seropositive CCE patients (P=0.086). Likewise, recP29 immunoblotting yielded seronegativity in 93% of 29 out of 40 initially recP29-immunoblot-positive CCE patients after 3 years follow-up, compared with 72% in the HCF immunoblotting (P=0.060). Eleven out of 14 NCCE patients were initially positive by recP29 ELISA, and 10 out of these maintained a marked anti-recP29 antibody reactivity until the endpoint of the follow-up period. All 14 NCCE cases were initially seropositive by recP29 immunoblotting, and 13 cases remained seropositive until the end of the study. Thus, recombinant P29 protein appears prognostically useful for monitoring those post-surgical CE cases with an initial seropositivity to this marker.
authors.affiliation: University of Monastir, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Clinical Biology B, Laboratory of Parasitology and Mycology, 99UR/08-05 1-rue avicenne, 5000 Monastir, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ben Nouir
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gianinazzi
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gorcii
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Abdellatif
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nouri
authors.forename: Hamouda
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Babba
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gottstein
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000947:Antigens, Helminth / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004443:Echinococcosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000601:surgery; D048209:Echinococcus granulosus / Q000276:immunology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting / Q000379:methods; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000379:methods; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000947:Antigens, Helminth; C406723:P-29 antigen; D011994:Recombinant Proteins