• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: IP-10 Is a Sensitive Biomarker of Antigen Recognition in Whole-Blood Stimulation Assays Used for the Diagnosis of Mycobacterium bovis Infection in African Buffaloes (Syncerus caffer)
  • Contributor: Goosen, Wynand J.; Cooper, David; Miller, Michele A.; van Helden, Paul D.; Parsons, Sven D. C.
  • Published: American Society for Microbiology, 2015
  • Published in: Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, 22 (2015) 8, Seite 974-978
  • Language: English
  • DOI: 10.1128/cvi.00324-15
  • ISSN: 1556-6811; 1556-679X
  • Keywords: Microbiology (medical) ; Clinical Biochemistry ; Immunology ; Immunology and Allergy
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: ABSTRACT African buffaloes ( Syncerus caffer ) are maintenance hosts of Mycobacterium bovis , the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis. They act as reservoirs of this infection for a wide range of wildlife and domestic species, and the detection of infected animals is important to control the geographic spread and transmission of the disease. Interferon gamma (IFN-γ) release assays (IGRAs) utilizing pathogen-derived peptide antigens are highly specific tests of M. bovis infection; however, the diagnostic sensitivities of these assays are suboptimal. We evaluated the diagnostic utility of measuring antigen-dependent interferon gamma-induced protein 10 (IP-10) release as an alternative to measuring IFN-γ levels. M. bovis -exposed buffaloes were tested using the Bovigam PC-EC and Bovigam PC-HP assays and a modified QuantiFERON TB-Gold (mQFT) assay. IP-10 was measured in the harvested plasma and was produced in significantly greater abundance in response to M. bovis antigens in Bovigam-positive than in Bovigam-negative animals. For each assay, using the Bovigam results as a reference, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was done to determine diagnostically relevant cutoff values for IP-10. Thereafter, mQFT test results derived from measurement of IP-10 and IFN-γ were compared and a larger number of Bovigam-positive animals were detected using IP-10 as a diagnostic marker. Moreover, using IP-10, agreement between the mQFT assay and the Bovigam assays was increased, while the excellent agreement between the Bovigam assays was retained. We conclude that IP-10 is a sensitive marker of antigen recognition and that measurement of this cytokine in antigen-stimulated whole blood might increase the sensitivity of conventional IGRAs in African buffaloes.
  • Access State: Open Access