Avaliação da acurácia da proteína rKLO8 no diagnóstico da leishmaniose visceral canina

Abstract

Canine Visceral Leishmaniasis (CVL) represents a serious public health issue. In Brazil, the prevalence of infection in dogs is quite variable and may reach levels above 60% in some outbreaks. The dual Path Platform (DPP®-Bio-Manguinhos) as quick screening test followed by ELISA (EIE-Bio-Manguinhos) as a confirmatory test became part of the diagnostic protocol of CVL, nationally accreditated in Brazil since 2011. However, CVL diagnosis still needs to be improved to achieve a more accurate detection rate. Recently, rKLO8, a new antigenic protein of Sudanese L. donovani, was cloned and purified and had high reactivity to diagnose human VL. The present study aimed to evaluate serum reactivity to rKL08 and to the reference antigen rK26, and to compare both diagnostic proteins used in ELISA with the combined DPP® and EIE as diagnostic tests of CVL. Dog sera samples from Governador Valadares, an area endemic for leishmaniasis in Minas Gerais, Brazil, were grouped in the following way: (I) DPP®/EIE negative (n = 100), (II) DPP® positive/EIE negative and (III) DPP®/EIE positive dog sera (n = 100). Enhanced serum levels of IgM and IgG to both rKLO8 and rK26 were found in group III (p<0.0001). Interestingly, high IgG2 and low IgG1 levels against both antigens were detected in DPP®/EIE positive dogs, suggesting the occurrence of a predominant Th1 phenotype associated with subclinical infection. The rKLO8-ELISA (IgG) and the rK26-ELISA (IgG) showed a sensitivity of 68% and 77% and specificity of 92% and 91%, respectively, determined by ROC curve analysis. In addition, Kappa coefficient indicated good agreement (0.739) between rKLO8-ELISA and rK26-ELISA. Moreover, the combination of rKLO8 and rK26 antigens (rKLO8+rK26) exhibited higher sensitivity (85%) and specificity (93%). Kappa analysis established that rKLO8+rK26-ELISA (IgG) had better agreement with both DPP® and EIE, with kappa values of 0.700. These data indicate that the combination of rKLO8 and rK26 antigens has better accuracy in the diagnosis of CVL than rKLO8 and rK26 used separately at detecting IgG. These results showed for the first time the usefulness of rKLO8 antigen in the diagnosis of CVL, and that rKLO8-ELISA may represent a potential additional tool for the diagnosis of CVL.