Mycobacterial Diseases
Open Access

Abstract

Evaluation of Fibronectin-Binding Protein Ag85-B as Target for Serodiagnosis of Swine Mycobacteriosis in Living Animals

Amr M. Mohamed, Ghada A. Abou El-Ella, Essam A. Nasr and Youssef A. Soliman

The aim of the current study was to evaluate the fibronectin-binding protein Ag85-B as a potential antigen for ELISA-based serodiagnosis of swine mycobacteriosis in living pigs. The validity of Ag85-B, in comparison with tuberculin purified protein derivatives (PPD), for the serodiagnosis of swine mycobacteriosis was investigated in the current study. A total of 89 serum samples from previously confirmed Mycobacterium and non-Mycobacteriuminfected slaughtered pigs were used for the evaluation study. These included 66 serum samples from confirmed cases with swine mycobacteriosis and 23 samples from non-Mycobacterium infected cases. Obtained ELISA results revealed an overall accuracy index, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of 87.6%, 87.9%, 86.9%, 95.1%, and 71.4%, respectively for Ag85-B as compared to 80.9%, 86.4%, 65.2%, 87.7%, and 62.5%, respectively for tuberculin PPD. In conclusion, the study revealed the reliability of Ag85-B as a potential candidate for ELISA-based serological assay that would provide for early and rapid diagnosis of swine mycobacterial infections in living animals.