The BioPlex 2200 system, an automated multiplex instrument, was previously evaluated for automated syphilis diagnostics using commercially available treponemal antigen-coated microbeads to detect IgG for rp17 and other treponemal antigens and IgM against cardiolipin (13, 14)

The BioPlex 2200 system, an automated multiplex instrument, was previously evaluated for automated syphilis diagnostics using commercially available treponemal antigen-coated microbeads to detect IgG for rp17 and other treponemal antigens and IgM against cardiolipin (13, 14). of rp17 was 93.7%, while reactive concordance of TmpA was only 81.9%. TmpA-specific reactivity showed good correlation with RPR titers (< 0.0001). IgG responses to the lipoidal antigen used in RPR screening (cardiolipin) were not detected in the MBA. Our results suggest that TmpA can be used as a treponemal antigen marker for recent or active infection and potentially replace RPR in a high-throughput multiplex tool for large-scale yaws surveillance. INTRODUCTION Yaws is an infectious disease caused by ssp. particle agglutination (TPPA) and hemagglutination (TPHA) assays, and one against cardiolipin, a nontreponemal antigen that can be quantitatively measured by assessments, such as Derenofylline the quick plasma reagin (RPR) and Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) assessments, that are better able to discriminate between current active disease and past infections. WHO has targeted yaws eradication by 2020 and has developed the Morges strategy, which is comprised of mapping the disease at a community level and subsequently treating the entire population of communities in which yaws is usually endemic with single-dose azithromycin (5, 6). The efficacy of this approach was exhibited in a study of mass treatment in Papua New Guinea (PNG) (5) and in Vanuatu and a subdistrict of southern Ghana (A. Pillay, C. Chen, and T. Ye, unpublished data). The program goals are to interrupt transmission in all countries where the disease is currently endemic and to certify that all previously countries where the disease was endemic are yaws free. Certification of removal at a country level is determined by zero reporting of yaws cases and by lack of RPR seroreactivity in young children, because reactivity of nontreponemal assessments is a better indicator of recent contamination than reactivity of treponemal assessments. Regrettably, the RPR test cannot be automated for use in large-scale serosurveys. A large-scale serosurveillance tool for use in stand-alone surveys or in conjunction with serosurveillance for other Derenofylline neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) is required to direct mapping efforts and to certify removal of yaws (7,C10). Ideally, this tool would be able to differentiate previous from current treponemal contamination. We therefore sought to evaluate serological screening for yaws by use of two recombinant treponemal antigens, the recombinant p17 (rp17) antigen and the treponemal membrane protein A (TmpA) on a multiplex bead array (MBA) assay, which is Derenofylline usually capable of measuring multiple analytes in a single run. These data Derenofylline were compared to reference requirements and correlated with results obtained quantitatively against the RPR test. Some evidence suggests that antibody titers to certain treponemal antigens, primarily TmpA, decline rapidly following treatment for syphilis (11, 12). TmpA may therefore be a potential candidate antigen to measure the impact of yaws removal efforts. A secondary aim of our study was to evaluate the performance of the nontreponemal antigen cardiolipin when linked to beads around the MBA assay. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study populace and ethics statement. Specimens were collected as part of numerous yaws evaluation studies in Ghana, Vanuatu, and PNG in 2013. In Ghana, serum samples were collected from children aged 5 to 14 years as part of a baseline assessment of the prevalence of yaws. In Vanuatu, whole blood was collected from children aged 5 to 14 years onto filter paper (TropBio Pty Ltd., Queensland, Australia) and then allowed to air flow dry at least 4 h Derenofylline to form dried blood spots (DBS). DBS were collected from children with clinically suspected yawslike lesions as part of the baseline assessment of the prevalence of yaws Rabbit Polyclonal to MSK2 in schoolchildren from randomly selected primary colleges. In PNG,.