In vitro biomarker discovery in the parasitic flatworm Fasciola hepatica for monitoring chemotherapeutic treatment

• Fasciola hepatica excretory/secretory products can be used as biomarkers.
• Two panels of biomarkers identified in response to triclabendazole sulphoxide.
• A sub-lethal, under dosed, panel (calreticulin, the Cat L proteases and enolase).
• A lethal panel (actin, gelsolin, DJ-1 and triose phosphate isomerise).

The parasitic flatworm Fasciola hepatica is a global food security risk. With no vaccines, the sustainability of triclabendazole (TCBZ) is threatened by emerging resistance. F. hepatica excretory/secretory (ES) products can be detected in host faeces and used to estimate TCBZ success and failure. However, there are no faecal based molecular diagnostics dedicated to assessing drug failure or resistance to TCBZ in the field. Utilising in vitro maintenance and sub-proteomic approaches two TCBZ stress ES protein response fingerprints were identified: markers of non-killing and lethal doses. This study provides candidate protein/peptide biomarkers to validate for detection of TCBZ failure and resistance.

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