Antibody detection against Kunitz-type protein in Fasciola hepatica experimentally infected sheep using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)

MARÍA AHUMADA; AGUSTINA GODINO; LORENA GUASCONIA; CARLA DEHEZA; MARILLA AMARANTO; CESAR IVÁN PRUZZO; GABRIEL VITULLI-MOYA; LAURA CHIAPELLO; MARÍA ELENA CARRIZO; JOSÉ LUIS BARRA; LAURA CERVI

International Journal of Veterinary Science and Medicine

Taylor and Francis Ltd.

Año: 2023 vol. 11 p. 126 - 137

Fasciolosis is a parasitic disease considered as emerging and neglected by the WHO. Sheep arehighly susceptible to this disease, and affected flocks experience decreased productivity due toincreased mortality, and the reduced quality of their products, such as wool and meat. Toeffectively control this disease, reliable and early diagnosis is essential for making decisionsregarding antiparasitic application and/or the removal of affected animals. Currently, thediagnosis of F. hepatica in sheep relies on the detection of parasite eggs in faeces, a methodthat becomes reliable from week 10 post-infection. Consequently, there is a need for earlierdiagnostic tools based on immune response. However, obtaining antigens for antibody detection has proven to be difficult and expensive. The aim of this study was to evaluate members ofthe Kunitz protein family of F. hepatica expressed in the form of a fusion protein in theserological diagnosis of F. hepatica in sheep. The performance of three recombinantF. hepatica Kunitz-type inhibitors (FhKT1.1, FhKT1.3, and FhKT4) was compared witha synthetic Kunitz-type peptide (sFhKT) in sera from sheep experimentally infected withF. hepatica, using an ELISA. Of these, FhKT1.1 showed the most promising diagnostic indicators,exhibiting high precision and low cross-reactivity, and thus potential for standardized production. The results of our study demonstrated that the application of FhKT1.1 is a valuable tool forearly-stage diagnosis of F. hepatica in sheep. Such an early diagnosis can aid in implementingtimely interventions and effectively managing the disease in sheep populations.