by Abeijon C, Alves F, Monnerat S, Wasunna M, Mbui J, Viana AG, Bueno LL, Siqueira WF, Carvalho SG, Agrawal N, Fujiwara R, Sundar S, Campos-Neto A. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 2019, 57:e02076-18. doi: 10.1128/JCM.02076-18
Summary: The authors report the discovery and characterization of two new biomarkers of L. donovani present in the urine of Old World visceral leishmaniasis (VL) patients, Ld-mao1 and Ld-ppi1; capture ELISAs were developed to detect these two biomarkers with sensitivities of 44.4% and 28.8% respectively. A multiplexed assay designed to simultaneously detect these and three previously identified L. infantum protein biomarkers (Li-isd1, Li-txn1, and Li-ntf2) markedly increased the assay sensitivity to 82.2%. Leishmanial protein biomarkers found in urine of VL patients may be powerful tools for the development of a much-needed safe and accurate diagnostic test for this disease.
