02146nas a2200229   4500000000100000008004100001100001200042700001500054700001200069700001300081700001500094700001500109700001500124700001600139700001200155245008900167856008900256300000900345490000600354520154200360022001401902       2017                            d1 aHooij A1 aKon Fat ET1 aEeden S1 aWilson L1 ada Silva M1 aSalgado CG1 aSpencer JS1 aCorstjens P1 aGeluk A00aField-friendly serological tests for determination of M. leprae-specific antibodies.  uhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5566372/pdf/41598_2017_Article_7803.pdf  a88680 v73 a<p>Early detection of leprosy is key to reduce the ongoing transmission. Antibodies directed against M. leprae PGL-I represent a useful biomarker for detecting multibacillary (MB) patients. Since efficient leprosy diagnosis requires field-friendly test conditions, we evaluated two rapid lateral flow assays (LFA) for detection of Mycobacterium leprae-specific antibodies: the visual immunogold OnSite Leprosy Ab Rapid test [Gold-LFA] and the quantitative, luminescent up-converting phosphor anti-PGL-I test [UCP-LFA]. Test performance was assessed in independent cohorts originating from three endemic areas. In the Philippine cohort comprising patients with high bacillary indices (BI; average:4,9), 94%(n = 161) of MB patients were identified by UCP-LFA and 78%(n = 133) by Gold-LFA. In the Bangladeshi cohort, including mainly MB patients with low BI (average:1), 41%(n = 14) and 44%(n = 15) were detected by UCP-LFA and Gold-LFA, respectively. In the third cohort of schoolchildren from a leprosy hyperendemic region in Brazil, both tests detected 28%(n = 17) seropositivity. Both rapid tests corresponded well with BI(p &lt; 0.0001), with a fairly higher sensitivity obtained with the UCP-LFA assay. However, due to the spectral character of leprosy, additional, cellular biomarkers are required to detect patients with low BIs. Therefore, the UCP-LFA platform, which allows multiplexing with differential biomarkers, offers more cutting-edge potential for diagnosis across the whole leprosy spectrum.</p>
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