DIAGNOSIS OF PROGRESSIVE DISSEMINATED HISTOPLASMOSIS USING THE NOVEL RECOMBINANT ANTIGEN Hcp100

TOSCANINI, MARIA AGUSTINA; RODRIGUEZ LABOCCETTA, CAROLINA MARIEL; VIDELA GARRIDO, AGUSTIN; LAURA, BELEN GARGIULO; POSSE, B. GLADIS; IOVANNITTI, CRISTINA; CAPECE, PAULA; FROLA, CLAUDIA; GUELFAND, LILIANA; VALDEZ, RUTH M.; CHACON, YONE A.; NUSBLAT, ALEJANDRO; CUESTAS, MARIA LUJAN

Cordoba

Congreso; 19th INFOCUS 2021; 2021

The diagnosis of progressive disseminated histoplasmosis (PDH), a life-threatening disease particularly for patients living with HIV, is still challenging in many countries where this disease is highly endemic. Definitive diagnosis is established by culture and/or visualization of the yeast cells by cytology or histopathology but both procedures have limited sensitivity and cultures are time-consuming. Antibodies (Ab) detection by immunodiffusion (ID) is often used but its sensitivity is low in the immunocompromised host. In addition, the standard serological reagent, the histoplasmin, is not ideal due to the presence of cross-reactive carbohydrates and for its problematic and time-consuming production. The only commercially available antigen (Ag) detection assay has high sensitivity in PDH cases; however, it is expensive and only performed in few laboratories. This study describes the potential use of the recombinant antigen, the 100kDa protein of Histoplasma spp. (Hcp100 Uniprot ID: O60040), for the development of novel Ab and Ag detection methods (ELISA and dotblot, respectively) for the diagnosis of PDH.