title: Towards a more precise serological diagnosis of human tegumentary leishmaniasis using Leishmania recombinant proteins.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Exposure to Leishmania induces a humoral immune response that can be used as a marker of parasite exposure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Herein, ELISA was used to screen sera from patients with Tegumentary Leishmaniasis (TL) against different L. infantum-chagasi-derived recombinant proteins (rHSP70, rH2A, rH2B, rH3, rH4 and rKMP11). Among the recombinant proteins, rHSP70 and rH2A showed the best reactivity against human sera obtained from endemic areas of TL. Receiver-Operator Characteristics (ROC) curve analysis was used to identify the effectiveness of these proteins for serodiagnosis of TL. ROC curves confirmed the superior performance of rHSP70 and rH2A, in comparison to the other tested recombinant proteins. Additionally, we evaluated the specificity of the response to rHSP70 and rH2A by testing sera obtained from patients with Chagas' disease, Tuberculosis, Leprosy or Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. In this case, rHSP70 displayed an increased ability to discriminate diseases, in comparison to SLA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results raise possibility of using rHSP70 for the serodiagnosis of TL.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz (CPqGM), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Paula
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soto
authors.forename: Jackson M L
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Viviane S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Boaventura
authors.forename: Camila I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.forename: Juqueline R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Cristal
authors.forename: Manoel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barral-Netto
authors.forename: Aldina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barral
mesh_terms: D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007891:Leishmania / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D007896:Leishmaniasis / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000235:genetics; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D012372:ROC Curve; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000379:methods*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins; D009841:Oligonucleotides; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins