Open Access
Research (Published online: 30-03-2021)
35. Comparative evaluation of the immunodominant proteins of Brucella abortus for the diagnosis of cattle brucellosis
Mohandoss Nagalingam, Thaslim J. Basheer, Vinayagamurthy Balamurugan, Rajeswari Shome, S. Sowjanya Kumari, G. B. Manjunatha Reddy, Bibek Ranjan Shome, Habibur Rahman, Parimal Roy, J. Joseph Kingston and R. K. Gandham
Veterinary World, 14(3): 803-812

Mohandoss Nagalingam: ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
Thaslim J. Basheer: ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
Vinayagamurthy Balamurugan: ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
Rajeswari Shome: ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
S. Sowjanya Kumari: ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
G. B. Manjunatha Reddy: ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
Bibek Ranjan Shome: ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
Habibur Rahman: International Livestock Research Institute, New Delhi, India.
Parimal Roy: ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
J. Joseph Kingston: Defense Food Research Laboratory, Mysore, Karnataka, India.
R. K. Gandham: National Institute of Animal Biotechnology, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.

doi: www.doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2021.803-812

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Article history: Received: 28-05-2020, Accepted: 15-02-2021, Published online: 30-03-2021

Corresponding author: Mohandoss Nagalingam

E-mail: nagar75@gmail.com

Citation: Nagalingam M, Basheer TJ, Balamurugan V, Shome R, Kumari SS, Reddy GBM, Shome BR, Rahman H, Roy P, Kingston JJ, Gandham RK (2021) Comparative evaluation of the immunodominant proteins of Brucella abortus for the diagnosis of cattle brucellosis, Veterinary World, 14(3): 803-812.
Abstract

Background and Aim: The present serodiagnosis of brucellosis in livestock is based on the whole cell or smooth lipopolysaccharide of the Brucella organism in which specificity is hampered by the cross-reactivity, especially with the antibodies against Yersinia enterocolitica O:9 organism. The problem can be addressed by screening for better immunodominant antigens. Hence, the present study was undertaken to screen protein antigens of Brucella abortus for their diagnostic potential in cattle brucellosis.

Materials and Methods: Protein antigens of B. abortus (n=10) non-reactive to antibodies against Y. enterocolitica O:9 were selected, expressed in Escherichia coli, assessed the reactivity of expressed recombinant proteins by Western blot, standardized indirect-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detecting Brucella antibodies in cattle serum, and comparative evaluation was done.

Results: All the selected protein antigens were expressed and in the Western blot with Brucella antibodies positive cattle serum, six recombinant (Brucella protein 26 [BP26], Cu-Zn Superoxide dismutase [SodC], B. abortus I-1885, Serine protease, Bacterioferritin, and Brucella Lumazine Synthase [BLS]) proteins showed reaction whereas none of the proteins showed reactivity with Brucella negative cattle serum. ELISA has been done using known Brucella positive and negative cattle sera samples (n=113 each) in which the performance of recombinant proteins in diagnosing brucellosis was in the order of BP26 > BLS > SodC followed by rest of the proteins. BP26 based ELISA was found to be better with area under the curve as 0.953, and diagnostic sensitivity, diagnostic specificity, and Youden's index of 90.27%, 95.58%, and 0.8584, respectively, with the excellent agreement (k=0.85).

Conclusion: BP26 could be a potential diagnostic antigen among the immunodominant proteins of B. abortus in ruling out Y. enterocolitica O:9 infection while diagnosing brucellosis in cattle herds.

Keywords: Brucella abortus, Brucella lumazine synthase, Brucella protein26, cattle brucellosis, Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase, Yersinia enterocolitica O:9.