Anaplasma platys Immunoblot Test Using Major Surface Antigens.
Anaplasma platys is an uncultivable tick-borne obligatory intracellular bacterium, which is known to infect platelets of dogs. A. platys causes infectious canine cyclic thrombocytopenia in subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world. Several cases of human infection with A. platys infection have also been reported. However, seroprevalence of A. platys exposure and infection has not been determined in most of the regions, in part, due to lack of a simple and reliable assay method. Furthermore, A. platys antigens recognized by dogs are unknown. We previously sequenced gene encoding A. platys major outer membrane proteins P44 and Omp-1X. In the present study, we obtained purified recombinant A. platys P44 and Omp-1X proteins, and using them as antigens in immunoblotting examined seroreactivity in dogs. Of 34 specimens from Venezuela where A. platys infection was previously reported, 25 specimens (73.5%) reacted to rAplP44 and/or rAplOMP-1X. Neither Anaplasma phagocytophilum-seropositive (N = 10) nor A. phagocytophilum-seronegative canine specimens (N = 10) from the geographic regions where A. platys infection has never been reported, reacted rAplP44 or rAplOMP-1X. The result indicates a high A. platys seroprevalence rate in tested dogs from Venezuela and suggests that the immunoblot analysis based on recombinant A. platys major outer membrane proteins can provide a simple and defined tool to enlighten the prevalence of A. platys infection.
1 Department of Veterinary Biosciences, The Ohio State University , Columbus, Ohio.
Tzung-Huei
TH
Lai
2 Departamento Médico-Quirúrgico, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Central de Venezuela , Maracay, Estado Aragua, Venezuela .
Maria E
ME
Parraga
3 Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, University of Wisconsin-Madison , Madison, Wisconsin.
Elizabeth
E
Alvarez
1 Department of Veterinary Biosciences, The Ohio State University , Columbus, Ohio.
Yasuko
Y
Rikihisa
D000709:Anaplasma / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D000818:Animals; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology; D004285:Dogs; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting / Q000379:methods*; D013984:Tick Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary; D014687:Venezuela / Q000453:epidemiology; D015047:Zoonoses
D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins
Anaplasma platys; Omp-1X; P44; Venezuela; immunoblot analysis; infectious canine cyclic thrombocytopenia; major surface antigens; seroprevalence