Serological detection of Plasmodium vivax malaria using recombinant proteins corresponding to the 19-kDa C-terminal region of the merozoite surface protein-1

• Published in: Malaria Journal
• Main Authors: Rodrigues Mauricio M, Ferreira Orlando C, Machado Ricardo LD, Cunha Maristela G, Rodrigues Maria Helena C, Soares Irene S
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2003
• Subjects: Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-2-39; https://doaj.org/article/8f1d8bca03e44a88b42a80454495b3da

Abstract Background Serological tests to detect antibodies specific to Plasmodium vivax could be a valuable tool for epidemiological studies, for screening blood donors in areas where the malaria is not endemic and for diagnosis of infected individuals. Because P. vivax cannot be easily obtained in vitro , ELISA assays using total or semi-purified antigens are rarely used. Based on this limitation, we tested whether recombinant proteins representing the 19 kDa C-terminal region of the merozoite surface protein-1 of P. vivax (MSP1 19 ) could be useful for serological detection of malaria infection. Methods Three purified recombinant proteins produced in Escherichia coli (GST-MSP1 19 , His 6 -MSP1 19 and His 6 -MSP1 19 -PADRE) and one in Pichia pastoris (yMSP1 19 -PADRE) were compared for their ability to bind to IgG antibodies of individuals with patent P. vivax infection. The method was tested with 200 serum samples collected from individuals living in the north of Brazil in areas endemic for malaria, 53 serum samples from individuals exposed to Plasmodium falciparum infection and 177 serum samples from individuals never exposed to malaria. Results Overall, the sensitivity of the ELISA assessed with sera from naturally infected individuals was 95%. The proportion of serum samples that reacted with recombinant proteins GST-MSP1 19, His 6 -MSP1 19 , His 6 -MSP1 19 -PADRE and yMSP1 19 -PADRE was 90%, 93.5%, 93.5% and 93.5%, respectively. The specificity values of the ELISA determined with sera from healthy individuals and from individuals with other infectious diseases were 98.3% (GST-MSP1 19 ), 97.7% (His 6 -MSP1 19 and His 6 -MSP1 19 -PADRE) or 100% (yMSP1 19 -PADRE). Conclusions Our study demonstrated that for the Brazilian population, an ELISA using a recombinant protein of the MSP1 19 can be used as the basis for the development of a valuable serological assay for the detection of P. vivax malaria.