RECOMBINANT CHIMERIC PROTEINS OF BARTONELLA HENSELAE AS A FELINE BARTONELOSE IMMUNODIAGNOSTIC

Abstract

Bartonellosis is a disease of great importance for unique health, but it presents a challenging diagnosis, since conventional techniques are limited, in relation to the high complexity and time required. Therefore, the search for new targets for the serological diagnosis of Bartonella henselae is of considerable interest and the development of specific antigens can increase the sensitivity and specificity of this diagnosis. Thus, this research evaluated the antigenic activity of recombinant chimeric proteins synthesized from immunogenic epitopes of B. henselae for immunodiagnosis of feline bartonellosis. To this end, the recognition activity of chimeras in 145 samples of feline sera was analyzed through indirect ELISA (ELISA feline Bartonella-EFB). To analyze the general characteristics of the test, an adherence analysis was performed, using the metrics of accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the ROC curve (AUROC). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of the EFB for detection of anti-B antibodies. henselae were also measured using the indirect immunofluorescence (IFA) test to analyze its possible application as a screening and/or confirmation method in the serological diagnosis of feline bartonellosis. Chimeric proteins were effective in detecting the presence of antibodies against B. henselae in feline serum samples, and also, all bartonellosis reactive samples in the proposed test were also reactive in the gold standard test (IFA). As the proposed test demonstrated low sensitivity and high specificity, recombinant proteins showed promise, and can be used as a tool for the diagnosis of feline bartonellosis.