title: Microarray of surface-exposed proteins of Rickettsia heilongjiangensis for serodiagnosis of Far-eastern spotted fever.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Far-eastern spotted fever (FESF) is an important emerging infectious disease in Northeast Asia. The laboratory diagnosis of FESF in hospitals is mainly based on serological methods. However, these methods need to cultivate rickettsial cells as diagnostic antigens, which is both burdensome and dangerous.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eleven surface-exposed proteins (SEPs) were identified in our previous study and their recombinant proteins (rSEPs) fabricated on a microarray were serologically analyzed with seventeen paired sera from patients suffered from FESF in this study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All the rSEPs showed sensitivities of between 53% and 82% to acute-phase sera and of between 65% and 82% to convalescent-phase sera, and all the rSEPs except rRplA showed specificities of between 80% and 95%. The combination assay of two, three, or four of the four rSEPs (rOmpA-2, rOmpB-3, rRpsB, and rSdhB) showed better sensitivities of between 76% and 94% to the acute-phase sera or between 82% and 100% to the convalescent-phase sera and acceptable specificities of between 75% and 90%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that the four rSEPs are more likely candidate antigens for serological diagnosis of FESF.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Wenping
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Xiaolu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.forename: Jiafu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Yawei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.forename: Changsong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, 20 Dong-Dia-Jie Street, Fengtai, Beijing, China. bohaiwen@sohu.com.
authors.forename: Bohai
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D046228:Microarray Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012282:Rickettsia Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins