Antibody specific to 43 kDa excretory–secretory antigenic peptide of Taenia solium metacestode as a potential diagnostic marker in human neurocysticercosis

Recent studies suggest excretory–secretory (ES) antigen specific antibody detection tests to be of promising utility in laboratory diagnosis of many parasitic diseases in human including neurocysticercosis (NCC). The objective of the present study was to characterize the ES antigens collected from in vitro culture of Taenia solium metacestode larvae, and to identify specific ES peptides as diagnostic markers. Three ES peptides viz., 67 kDa, 43 kDa and 32 kDa, were found to be diagnostic for NCC based on high sensitivity and specificity of their reactivity to either serum or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens. More remarkably, the 43 kDa ES peptide was found reactive with CSF and serum specimens from confirmed NCC patients with absolute specificity and a high sensitivity (88.23% in serum and 89.28% in CSF). This peptide was also detected by sera and CSF from clinically suspected NCC patients but with a decreased sensitivity correlating with the decreasing order of the certainty of diagnosis as per a criteria proposed earlier. The 43 kDa ES peptide is suggested to be an important peptide of diagnostic utility in NCC.