title: Bacteriophage-fused peptides for serodiagnosis of human strongyloidiasis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Strongyloidiasis, a human intestinal infection caused by the nematode Strongyloides stercoralis, is frequently underdiagnosed and although its high prevalence is still a neglected parasitic disease because conventional diagnostic tests based on parasitological examination (presence of Strongyloides larvae in stool) are not sufficiently sensitive due to the low parasitic load and to the irregular larval output. There is an urgent need to improve diagnostic assays, especially for immunocompromised patients with high parasitic load as consequence of self-infection cycle, which can disseminate throughout the body, resulting in a potentially fatal hyperinfection syndrome often accompanied by sepsis or meningitis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We have performed Phage Display technology to select peptides that mimic S. stercoralis antigens, capable of detecting a humoral response in patients with strongyloidiasis. The peptides reactivity was investigated by Phage-ELISA through different panels of serum samples. We have successfully selected five peptides with significant immunoreactivity to circulating IgG from patients' sera with strongyloidiasis. The phage displayed peptides C9 and C10 presented the highest diagnostic potential (AUC>0.87) with excellent sensitivity (>85%) and good specificity (>77.5%), suggesting that some S. stercoralis antigens trigger systemic immune response.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These novel antigens are interesting serum biomarkers for routine strongyloidiasis screenings due to the easy production and simple assay using Phage-ELISA. Such markers may also present a promising application for therapeutic monitoring.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Diagnóstico de Parasitoses, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brasil.
authors.forename: Nágilla Daliane
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Feliciano
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Diagnóstico de Parasitoses, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brasil.
authors.forename: Vanessa da Silva
authors.initials: Vda S
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Nanobiotecnologia, Instituto de Genética e Bioquímica, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brasil.
authors.forename: Fabiana de Almeida Araújo
authors.initials: Fde A
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Nanobiotecnologia, Instituto de Genética e Bioquímica, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brasil.
authors.forename: Patricia Tiemi
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Fujimura
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Diagnóstico de Parasitoses, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brasil.
authors.forename: Henrique Tomaz
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Gonzaga
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Nanobiotecnologia, Instituto de Genética e Bioquímica, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brasil; Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Luiz Ricardo
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Goulart
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Diagnóstico de Parasitoses, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brasil.
authors.forename: Julia Maria
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Costa-Cruz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D000909:Antibodies, Helminth / Q000097:blood; D000947:Antigens, Helminth / Q000276:immunology; D001435:Bacteriophages; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010274:Parasitology / Q000379:methods*; D019151:Peptide Library; D010455:Peptides / Q000276:immunology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017171:Strongyloides stercoralis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D013322:Strongyloidiasis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000909:Antibodies, Helminth; D000947:Antigens, Helminth; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D019151:Peptide Library; D010455:Peptides