Development of a lateral flow immunochromatography test for the rapid detection of bovine tuberculosis

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Immunology
• Diagnostic Microbiology
• Nanotechnology in Diagnostics

Background:

• Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) poses a significant threat to cattle health and global food security.
• Current diagnostic methods, like the skin test, have limitations in sensitivity and specificity.
• The development of rapid, accurate antibody detection tests is crucial for effective bTB management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a novel lateral flow immunochromatography (LFIC) test for detecting specific antibodies against Mycobacterium bovis (MB).
• To assess the LFIC test's performance as a complementary diagnostic tool for bovine tuberculosis.
• To identify the most specific antigen for use in the LFIC test.

Main Methods:

• Development of an LFIC test using gold nanoparticle-conjugated recombinant G protein.
• Evaluation of three MB antigens (ESAT-6, CFP-10, MPB83) for the control line, selecting MPB83 for specificity.
• Performance analysis using 820 bovine sera, including healthy, MAP-infected, and bTB-herd sera, compared against bTB-ELISA and postmortem PCR confirmation.

Main Results:

• The MPB83 antigen demonstrated the highest specificity for the LFIC test.
• Out of 775 bTB-herd sera, LFIC detected 45 positive cases, while the skin test identified only 5.
• Postmortem examination and PCR confirmed bTB in LFIC-positive, TST-negative animals.
• The LFIC test showed no false positives with sera from healthy or MAP-infected animals.

Conclusions:

• The developed LFIC test is a specific and sensitive tool for detecting bovine tuberculosis.
• This rapid immunochromatographic assay can serve as a valuable complement to existing bTB diagnostic strategies.
• The LFIC test offers a promising solution for the rapid identification of bTB-infected cattle, aiding in disease control efforts.