Development of peptide-based lineage-specific serology for chronic Chagas disease: geographical and clinical distribution of epitope recognition

BHATTACHARYYA T; FALCONAR AK; LUQUETTI AO; COSTALES JA; GRIJALVA MJ; LEWIS MD; MESSENGER LA; TRAN TT; RAMIREZ JD; GUHL F; CARRASCO HJ; DIOSQUE P; GARCIA L; LITVINOV SV; MILES MA

PLOS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES

PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE

Lugar: San Francisco; Año: 2014

1935-2735

Abstract Background Chagas disease, caused by infection with the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, remains a serious public health issue in Latin America. Genetically diverse, the species is sub-divided into six lineages, known as TcI?TcVI, which have disparate geographical and ecological distributions. TcII, TcV, and TcVI are associated with severe human disease in the Southern Cone countries, whereas TcI is associated with cardiomyopathy north of the Amazon. T. cruzi persists as a chronic infection, with cardiac and/or gastrointestinal symptoms developing years or decades after initial infection. Identifying an individual´s history of T. cruzi lineage infection directly by genotyping of the parasite is complicated by the low parasitaemia and sequestration in the host tissues. Methodology/Principal Findings We have applied here serology against lineage-specific epitopes of the T. cruzi surface antigen TSSA, as an indirect approach to allow identification of infecting lineage. Chagasic sera from chronic patients from a range of endemic countries were tested by ELISA against synthetic peptides representing lineage-specific TSSA epitopes bound to avidin-coated ELISA plates via a biotin labelled polyethylene glycol-glycine spacer to increase rotation and ensure each amino acid side chain could freely interact with their antibodies. 79/113 (70%) of samples from Brazil, Bolivia, and Argentina recognised the TSSA epitope common to lineages TcII/TcV/TcVI. Comparison with clinical information showed that a higher proportion of Brazilian TSSApep-II/V/VI responders had ECG abnormalities than non-responders (38% vs 17%; p