Evaluating troponin C from Psoroptes cuniculi as a diagnostic antigen for a dot‐ELISA assay to diagnose mite infestations in rabbits. (February 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zheng, W.; Zhang, R.; Wu, X.; Ren, Y.; Nong, X.; Gu, X.; Wang, S.; Peng, X.; Yang, G.
• Is Part Of: Parasite immunology. Volume 36:Number 2(2014:Feb.)
• Page Start: 53
• Page End: 59
• Publication Date: 2014-02
• Subjects: Veterinary parasitology -- Immunological aspects -- Periodicals; Host-parasite relationships -- Immunological aspects -- Periodicals; 571.96
• DOI: 10.1111/pim.12076
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0141-9838

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="pim12076-abs-0001"> <title>Summary</title> <p>The mite <italic>Psoroptes cuniculi</italic> is globally widespread and has a serious impact on commercial rabbit breeding. In China, diagnosis of <italic>P. cuniculi</italic> is currently based on conventional clinical methods that entail numerous disadvantages, including their failure to diagnose subclinical infections. Hence, alternative measures are required, and dot‐ELISA is one of the most promising strategies. We cloned and expressed the recombinant <italic>P. cuniculi</italic> troponin C gene for use as a basis for novel dot‐ELISA assay to detect <italic>P. cuniculi</italic> infections in rabbits. This amplified sequence encoded a 153 amino acid protein of 17·6 kDa and theoretical pI 4·18 without signal peptide. The recombinant troponin C of <italic>P. cuniculi</italic> is an outer membrane protein and may also be a new <italic>P. cuniculi</italic> allergen. Results of dot‐ELISA test showed that this novel assay had more than 90% sensitivity but low specificity in distinguishing infections with <italic>P. cuniculi</italic> or <italic>Sarcoptic scabiei</italic>, despite very high agreement between observers (97–99%; κ values ranged from 0·95 to 0·98 for inter‐ and intra‐observer variability test). This study showed that this novel method, at present, lacks diagnostic utility. Therefore, although simple serological assays such as dot‐ELISA show great promise as diagnostic tools, we suggest that troponin C is not a suitable diagnostic antigen candidate.</p> </abstract>