Development of a recombinant pB602L-based indirect ELISA assay for detecting antibodies against African swine fever virus in pigs

African swine fever(ASF),caused by the African swine fever virus(ASFV),is a devastating disease of domestic and wild pigs.There is no effective vaccine,and the control of the disease relies mainly on surveillance and early detection of infected pigs.Previously,serological assays,such as ELISA,have been developed mainly based on recombinant structural viral proteins of ASFV,including p72,p54,and p30.However,the antibodies against these proteins do not provide efficient protection against ASFV infection in pigs.Therefore,new serological assays that can be applied for clinical diagnosis and evaluating serological immune response in vaccinated pigs are still required.In this study,we expressed and purified a recombinant p B602 L protein.The purified p B602 L protein was then used as an antigen to develop an indirect ELISA assay.This assay has no cross-reaction with the anti-sera against the 15 most common pig pathogens in China,such as classical swine fever virus,pseudorabies virus,and porcine parvovirus.This assay and a commercial ELISA kit were then used to detect 60 field pig serum samples,including an unknown number of antiASFV sera.The coincidence of the two assays was 95%.Furthermore,the p B602 L-based ELISA was employed to test the antibody responses to the seven-gene-deleted ASFV strain HLJ/18-7 GD in pigs.The results showed that the antibody levels in all vaccinated pigs,starting from the 10 th day post-inoculation,have increased continuously during the observation period of 45 days.Our results indicate that this p B602 L-based indirect ELISA assay can be employed potentially in the field of ASFV diagnosis.

Development of an Indirect Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for Seromonitoring Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia Using Recombinant Lipoprotein LppQ of Mycoplasma mycoides subsp mycoides SC as Antigen

Mycoplasma mycoides subsp mycoides SC （MmmSC） is the etiological agent of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia （CBPP）. The lipoprotein LppQ encoded by lppQ gene is specific to MmmSC and is found in the type strain and in field strains isolated in Europe, Africa, and Australia, as well as in vaccine strains. No serological cross-reactions were observed with the related mycoplasmas of the Mycoplasma mycoides cluster. The N-terminal domain of the mature lipoprotein LppQ is hydrophilic, and it induces a strong, specific, early, and persistent immune response in naturally and experimentally infected animals. Mycoplasma-specific TGA （Trp） codons are utilized as stop codons in most other organisms. The lppQ N-terminal fragment from MmmSC HVRI X strain, the Chinese strain for CF antigen production, was mutated with one-step overlapping extension PCR. Sequence analysis confirmed the successful mutation from A to G in codon 198 in the lppQ gene. The fragment containing the mutation site was subcloned into the pET32a expression vector. The recombinant protein with molecular weight of 42 kDa was purified using the Ni-NTA His.Bind purification kit, with a purity of up to 95%. Western blot indicated that the standard positive serum of CBPP could react with the recombinant protein. The purified protein was diluted to 0.35 μg mL^-1, and coated to microtiter enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） plates. Indirect ELISA reaction conditions were optimized. The value of P/N was determined to be 4.8 （0.934/0.193）, the sensitivity to be 95.8% （46/48）, and the specificity to be 98.9% （161/163）. 3 817 cattle serum samples from three different provinces were detected by the indirect ELISA and CFT. The Kappa value is 0.63, which is middle or high agreement between the two methods.

Development of ELISA and immunochromatographic assay for ofloxacin

Two rapid, sensitive and reliable immunoassay methods, namely competitive indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (CI-ELISA) and colloidal gold-based immunochromatographic assay (CGIA), were developed to detect ofloxacin (OFL). The linear range of the CI-ELISA was from 0.5 to 128 ng/mL with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.35 ng/mL. Good recoveries were obtained in analyzing simulated swine urine samples. The CGIA could accurately estimate OFL at concentrations as low as 10 ng/mL in less than 10 min, and test results were read visually without any instrument.

Establishment and Application of an Indirect ELISA for Detection on Antibody of Haemophilus parasuis

[Objective]The aim was to establish an indirect ELISA for detection on antibody of Hps. [Method] The optimal conditions of indirect ELISA were selected and determined based on heat-resistant serotype 4 and 5 of Hps; specific,repeating and sensitive tests were conducted and 200 serums were detected. [Result]The optimal conditions were as follows： coating concentration of antigen at 10 μg /ml,and coating for 2 h at 37 °C; PBST containing 20 g /L of skim milk powder as blocking fluid for 30 min; serum dilution at 1∶ 80; reaction time of antigen for 45 min; dilution of secondary antibody at 1∶ 12 000 and effecting for 30 min; color development reaction for 15 min. [Conclusion] The established indirect ELISA is good in specificity and repetitiveness with higher sensitivity than that of indirect hemagglutination test; the results of clinic samples （ negative /positive serums） were in consistent with those detected with foreign ELISA kits. The established method can be made use of in serum antibody of Hps de- tection and seroepidemiology study.

Prevalence and Spatial Distribution of Badnavirus in the Banana (Musa spp) Major Growing Areas in Burkina Faso

Banana streak virus (BSV) and Sugarcane bacilliform virus (SCBV) are two badnaviruses commonly found in all banana growing areas of the world. It is a threat to the production and improvement of Musa germplasm. In Burkina Faso, the presence of badnaviruses was reported in banana producing regions. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of BSV and SCBV in banana production areas of Burkina Faso. A survey followed by a symptomatologic study was conducted in banana plantations in 27 localities of the nine main banana producing regions from July to October 2018 and September to December 2020. In all, 251 leaf samples were collected and analysed for BSV and SCBV infection by Indirect Antigen Coated Plate Assay-ELISA followed by amplification of the RT/RNase H region using Polymerase chain reaction with Badna FP/RP and SCBV F/R primers, respectively. A variety of symptoms were observed on almost all plant organs which were revealed due to BSV by symptomatologic study. The results of serological and molecular diagnosis revealed a high overall prevalence of BSV in 80.48% of the samples tested. BSV was distributed in seven survey regions out of nine with prevalence ranging from 10% to 100% in North, Centre, Centre West, Hauts Bassins, Cascades, Centre East and Boucle of Mouhoun regions. Very low prevalence was recorded for SCBV in Cascades and East Centre region with 4.35 and 12.5%, respectively. Species detection using specific primers to each species revealed three main species: Banana streak Obino l’ewaï virus (BSOLV), Goldfinger virus (BSGFV) and Imové virus (BSIMV) in the samples tested, respectively in the proportions of 23%, 8% and 0.8%. Co-infection between BSV species was also detected.

Immunodiagnostic efficacy of detection of Schistosoma japonicum human infections in China:a meta analysis

Objective:To assess the diagnostic efficacy of the currently most widely used indirect hemagglutination assay(IHA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) for detection of Schistosoma japonicum human infections.Methods:A comprehensive search was undertaken from China National Knowledge Infrastructure,Wanfang Database.VIP Database,PubMed. Cochrane Library,Science Citation Index Expanded.Proquest,and the inclusion and exclusion criteria were strictly settled.The funnel plot was used to assess the publication bias.Cochran’s Q test was employed to measure the homogeneity between studies,a summary receiver operating characteristic(SROC) curve was used to compare the diagnostic accuracy between the IHA and ELISA qualitatively by means of the Weighted Least Square method,the Ordinary Least Square method and the Robust regression method,and the diagnostic odds ratio(DOR) was drawn to compare the accuracy quantitatively.Results:Out of 785 publications,19 papers were eventually selected for analysis.Literature finality assessment indicated that minor publication bias existed in studies pertaining IHA test,but no bias was found in literatures regarding ELISA test.The heterogeneity test showed a heterogeneity between studies was present(χ~2 =466.07 and 34.67. both P values【0.0001).The areas under the SROC curves of IHA were all higher than that of ELISA test using the three methods(Weighted Least Square method:0.766 vs.0.695.Ordinary Least Square method:0.826 vs.0.741.Robust regression:0.815 vs.0.715).The TPR* values for IHA and EUSA were 0.710.0.759.0.749.and 0.650.0.686 and 0.666.respectively,and OR values were 5.997.9.937.8.893.and 3.432.4.784 and 3.959.respectively.The DOR of IHA was 9.41(95% CI:4.88-18.18).and 4.78(95%CI:3.21-7.13) for ELISA.Conclusions:All above results revealed that the diagnostic performance of IHA is better than that of ELISA.However,taking into account their unsatisfactory diagnostic value in areas with low infection intensity,a search for a better diagnostic test that can be applied in field situations in China should be given high priority.

Salmonella typhi and gallbladder cancer:report from an endemic region

BACKGROUND:Evidence exists of a link between chronic infection by Salmonella typhi(S.typhi) and the development of gallbladder cancer(GBC),but several studies from endemic regions contradict its role in the etiopathogenesis of GBC.This study used various tools to assess the prevalence of S.typhi in patients with GBC and gallstone disease(GSD) in this region with a high incidence of GBC.METHODS:S.typhi was detected in tissue and bile by PCR and culture and in serum by the Widal test and indirect hemagglutination assay(IHA).PCR with two pairs of S.typhi specific primers(flagellin gene H1d and SOP E gene) could detect 0.6 ng of S.typhi DNA.Fifty-four patients with GBC(cases) were matched with 54 patients with GSD(controls).RESULTS:Of the 54 cases,24(44.44%) were positive on the Widal test and 12(22.22%) on IHA,compared to 13(24.07%) and 5(9.26%) respectively in the controls.Eighteen(33.33%) cases showed a positive result on PCR(tissue) and 2 on PCR(bile) vs.none in the controls.Bile culture revealed no Salmonella colonies in either cases or controls.Only 3 cases were positive for Salmonella on tissue culture compared to none in the controls.The sensitivity of PCR(tissue) relative to the Widal test,IHA,culture(bile and tissue) and PCR(bile) was 100% vs.66.67%,11.11%,and 11.11%,and the specificity was 83.33% vs.100%,100%,and 100%,respectively.CONCLUSIONS:S.typhi is significantly associated with GBC compared to GSD(33% vs.0%).PCR appears to be the most specific diagnostic tool,the gold standard for S.typhi in tissue samples.

Microcystin-LR detection based on indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

Microcystins(MCs)are a group of closely related toxic cyclic heptapeptides produced by common cyanobacte-ria,which cause lots of accidents and threatens human health.In this paper,an indirect competitive enzyme-linked immu-nosorbent assay(ic-ELISA)was established and used to detect microcystin-LR(MC-LR)in drinking and surface waters.The concentration of coating antigen was 5 mg/mL,the dilution of monoclonal antibody MC10E7 was 1:3000,the dilution of enzyme tracer(goat anti-mouse IgG-peroxidase)was 1:3000,the standard concentration of MC-LR ranged from 0.001 mg/L to 30 mg/L,and o-phenylenediamine was used as substrate.The assay showed high relativity with high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC)with a correlation coefficient of more than 99%.The relative standard deviation was less than 10%,the detection limit was achieved down to 0.01 mg/L and up to 5.1 mg/L.The quantitative detection range was from 0.03 mg/L to 3 mg/L,and the antibody had high specificity for[4-arginine]microcystins.It performed well in spite of the influence of the real samples.

Expression of Recombinant Bovine Prion Protein PrP27-30 in CHO-K1 Cells

[Objective] To investigate the possibilities of expressing bovine PrP27-30 gene in CHO-K1 cells. [Method] The purified PCR products of PrP27-30 were digested and ligated to the pCI-neo vector to yield pCI-neo-PrP27-30 that was used as an expression vector. Then CHO-K1 cells were transfected by pCI-neo-PrP27-30, and stable expression clone cells were screened by methotrexate (MTX) at a concentration of 0.1 and 1.0 umol/L. The transient expression was detected by indirect immunofluorescence assay and western blot. [ Result] After drug selection with MTX, the expression of PrP27-30 gene was detected in CHO-K1 cells. [Conclusion] Recombinant protein PrP27-30 expressed in CHO-K1 cells has better immunoreactivity and can be used to study secondary structure and regulation mechanism of pathological isoform of prion protein (prpC).

Evaluation of Usefulness of Three Serological Tests Using Native Crude Antigen in Diagnosis of Hepatic Cystic Echinococcosis Patients

Objective: To evaluate three different serological tests [Indirect Hemaglutination (IHA), Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and Western Blotting (WB)] using native crude antigen for diagnosis of hepatic cystic echinococcosis (HCE) patients. Materials and Methods: Sheep hydatid fluid (HF) was collected from fertile cysts obtained from a slaughterhouse and used as an antigen. Forty patients who were attended the Dr. Ersin Arslan Training and Research Hospital in Gaziantep, Turkey, were investigated. Serum samples were obtained from surgically confirmed CE patients. Healthy Turkish people and 16 patients with other helminthic infections were included as a control group. Results: Of the 40 analyzed patients, 10 (25%) were men and 30 (75%) were female. The average age was 46.97 years (s.d.;18.95). The majority of the patients had a single cystic lesion situated in one lobe of the liver (usually in the right lobe) (55%), 32.5% of patients had two cystic lesions and 12.5% of patients had multiple cyst formations with various numbers. In all cases, ultrasound (US) examinations were positive and the size of cysts was between 2.1 - 12.7 cm. Twenty-three patients of the total 40 patients were classified according to the WHO classification system based on US findings. According to the results of WB analysis, molecular weights of 8 kDa (80%), 12 kDa (80%), 22 - 24 kDa (97.5%), 26 kDa (97.5%), 34 kDa (100%), 36 - 38 kDa (90%), 45 - 50 - 55 kDa (97.5%), and 60 - 75 kDa (97.5%) bands were identified. But 34, 50, and 55 kDa bands were also found in other helminthic diseases. Conclusion: The specificity and sensitivity of three serological tests (IHA, ELISA and WB) using crude antigen were compared by diagnosing hepatic cystic echinococcosis patients. IHA and ELISA showed high sensitivity but low specificity. Western blotting showed low sensitivity but high specificity.

Effect of Puerarin on the Pharmacokinetics of Baicalin in Gegen Qinlian Decoction (葛根芩连汤) in Mice

Objective： To study the pharmacokinetics of puerarin（PUE） in Gegen Qinlian Decoction（葛根芩连汤, GQD）, and the effects of PUE dosage variations on the pharmacokinetics of baicalin（BAL） in mice. Methods： GQD is composed of the concentrated granules of four Chinese herbs. Three dosages with different levels of PUE, including GQD, GQD co-administered with PUE, and GQD co-administration with two times the amount of PUE, were used to research the pharmacokinetics of PUE and BAL in mice. The indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ic ELISA） methods based on an anti PUE-monoclonal antibody（MAb） and BAL-MAb were employed to determine the concentration of PUE and BAL in mice blood. Results： After the co-administration of GQD with PUE, the area under the curves（AUC0-14 h） of PUE increased 2.8 times compared with GQD. At the dose of GQD co-administration at two times that of PUE, the AUC0-14 h of PUE was almost equal to that of GQD co-administration of PUE, showing non-linear pharmacokinetics. The AUC0-48 h of BAL showed a good dose-related increase of PUE（r=0.993） in the range from 100 to 300 mg/kg, indicating that PUE dramatically affects the absorption of BAL in mice. There was no significant difference in the other pharmacokinetic parameters, such as the first time of maximum concentration（Tmax）, the second Tmax, or the mean residence time. Conclusions： The ic ELISA methods were successfully applied to pharmacokinetic studies of PUE and BAL in GQD in mice. The dosage variability of PUE of the main ingredient in GQD affects its own pharmacokinetic characteristics and the absorption characteristics of BAL.

Development and characterization of monoclonal antibodies against human aryl hydrocarbon receptor

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor（Ah R）, a ligand-dependent nuclear receptor, is involved in a diverse spectrum of biological and toxicological effects. Due to the lack of three dimensional（3D）crystal or nuclear magnetic resonance structure, the mechanisms of these complex effects of AhR remain to be unclear. Also, commercial monoclonal antibodies（mA bs） against human AhR protein（h Ah R）, as alternative immunological tools, are very limited. Thus, in order to provide more tools for further studies on h Ah R, we prepared two m Abs（1D6 and 4A6） against h Ah R. The two newly generated m Abs specifically bound to amino acids 484–508（located in transcription activation domain） and amino acids 201–215（located in Per-ARNT-Sim domain）of h Ah R, respectively. These epitopes were new as compared with those of commercial m Abs.The m Abs were also characterized by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, western blot,immunoprecipitation and indirect immunofluorescence assay in different cell lines. The results showed that the two m Abs could recognize the linearized AhR s in six different human cell lines and a rat hepatoma cell line, as well as the h Ah R with native conformations. We concluded that the newly generated m Abs could be employed in AhR-based bioassays for analysis of environmental contaminants, and held great potential for further revealing the spatial structure of AhR and its biological functions in future studies.