ELISA Test Based on the Phenolic Glycolipid-I (PGL-I) of Mycobacterium leprae: A Reality of a Laboratory from a Non-Endemic Country.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Leprosy is a neglected tropical disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, leading to disabilities if untreated. The ELISA based on phenolic glycolipid I (PGL-I), or its synthetic version ND-O-BSA, is almost universally positive in multibacillary leprosy and thus extensively used in endemic countries. Household contacts with a positive antibody titer have ~6-fold higher probability to develop the disease than those with a negative titer. Thus, the aim of the study was to evaluate the performance of this ELISA in the setting of a non-endemic country.

Methods

We calculate the cut-off using optimized O.D. thresholds, generated by receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis, testing 39 well-characterized sera obtained from lepromatous leprosy patients with strongly positive ND-O-BSAELISA titer and 39 sera from healthy non-endemic patients never exposed to M. leprae or M. tuberculosis. Indeed, we tested a second set of sera from suspected or confirmed leprosy or household contacts (SLALT group, n=50), and patients with tuberculosis (control group, n=40).

Results

We detected 56.4% of SLALT and 22.5% of tuberculosis as positive, consistent with the literature.

Conclusion

The ELISA based on ND-O-BSA may thus be considered a good option to be used in a non-endemic area as a screening tool in at risk population usually coming to our center.

SUBMITTER: Longoni SS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9415083 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature