Development and application of ActA-based competitive ELISA for the specific diagnosis of ovine listeriosis

Listeriosis is a severe zoonotic disease caused by Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes), which poses a significant threat to both livestock and public health. Efficient detection of L. monocytogenes infections in humans and various animal species requires the development of a specific and sensitive method for clinical diagnosis.

In this study, a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) was developed for the detection of anti-ActA antibodies in serum, based on a horseradish peroxidase-labeled monoclonal antibody 3G11 (HRP-MAb 3G11). The assay parameters, including the coating antigen concentration, HRP-MAb 3G11 titer, serum dilution factor, blocking buffer, and blocking incubation time, were optimized for the detection of ActA-specific antibodies. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis identified 27.50% as the optimal cutoff value for the percentage of inhibition (PI), yielding a diagnostic sensitivity of 100% and a diagnostic specificity of 93.33%. This assay exhibited no cross-reactivity with positive sera specific for other common pathogens, demonstrated stable reproducibility, and achieved a diagnostic accuracy of 95.7% compared with a commercial indirect LLO-based ELISA kit. The cELISA kit was used to detect 930 ovine serum samples, revealing an overall seropositivity rate of 24.84%.

The cELISA kit developed in this study provides a specific, sensitive, and repeatable serological method for the rapid detection of L. monocytogenes infection.