<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Neurocysticercosis (NCC), one of the most important neuroparasitic diseases in humans, is caused by <italic>Cysticercus cellulosae</italic>, the metacestode stage of digenetic zoonotic cestode <italic>Taenia solium</italic>. The present study aims at the detection of anti-cysticercus antibodies in the sera of epileptic patients (n=26) visiting a tertiary care hospital in Nagpur, Maharashtra state, India, by an in-house developed indirect IgG-ELISA and enzyme-linked immunoelectro transfer blot (EITB) assay using different antigens (namely, Whole Cyst Antigen (WCA), Cystic Fluid Antigen (CFA), Scolex Antigen (SA), Excretory-Secretory Antigen (ESA) and Membrane-Body Antigen (MBA)) prepared from <italic>T. solium</italic> metacestodes to find out the status of NCC. An attempt has also been made for molecular detection of NCC from blood samples of those patients by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assay targeted at <italic>large subunit rRNA</italic> gene of <italic>T. solium</italic>. The IgG ELISA level of anti-cysticercus antibodies against WCA, CFA, SA, ESA and MBA antigens were as follows: 19.23 %, 23.07 %, 38.46 %, 30.76 % and 15.38 %. The seroreactivity to CFA, SA and ESA was found in equal proportions in patients with ring-enhancing lesions. In the EITB assay, the lower and medium molecular weight protein bands of SA and ESA were immunodominant compared to the higher WCA and CFA peptides. PCR positivity could be observed in 34.6 % (9/26) of the patients under study. It is the first report of detecting NCC among epileptic patients of the Nagpur region of Maharashtra state in India using serological and molecular tools.</p>
</abstract>

Neurocysticercosis (NCC), one of the most important neuroparasitic diseases in humans, is caused by Cysticercus cellulosae, the metacestode stage of digenetic zoonotic cestode Taenia solium. The present study aims at the detection of anti-cysticercus antibodies in the sera of epileptic patients (n=26) visiting a tertiary care hospital in Nagpur, Maharashtra state, India, by an in-house developed indirect IgG-ELISA and enzyme-linked immunoelectro transfer blot (EITB) assay using different antigens (namely, Whole Cyst Antigen (WCA), Cystic Fluid Antigen (CFA), Scolex Antigen (SA), Excretory-Secretory Antigen (ESA) and Membrane-Body Antigen (MBA)) prepared from T. solium metacestodes to find out the status of NCC. An attempt has also been made for molecular detection of NCC from blood samples of those patients by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assay targeted at large subunit rRNA gene of T. solium. The IgG ELISA level of anti-cysticercus antibodies against WCA, CFA, SA, ESA and MBA antigens were as follows: 19.23 %, 23.07 %, 38.46 %, 30.76 % and 15.38 %. The seroreactivity to CFA, SA and ESA was found in equal proportions in patients with ring-enhancing lesions. In the EITB assay, the lower and medium molecular weight protein bands of SA and ESA were immunodominant compared to the higher WCA and CFA peptides. PCR positivity could be observed in 34.6 % (9/26) of the patients under study. It is the first report of detecting NCC among epileptic patients of the Nagpur region of Maharashtra state in India using serological and molecular tools.

Serological and molecular detection of neurocysticercosis among epileptic patients in Nagpur, Maharashtra state (India)

Department of Veterinary Public Health & Epidemiology

Department of Veterinary Public Health & Epidemiology, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences

Helminthologia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Neurocysticercosis (NCC), one of the most important neuroparasitic diseases in humans, is caused by Cysticercus cellulosae, the metacestode stage of digenetic...

Serological and molecular detection of neurocysticercosis among epileptic patients in Nagpur, Maharashtra state (India)

Published Online: Dec 26, 2023

Page range: 208 - 220

Received: Mar 10, 2021

Accepted: Jul 07, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/helm-2023-0023

Keywords
Neurocysticercosis, Antigens, ELISA, EITB, PCR

© 2023 K. Satyaprakash et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Serological and molecular detection of neurocysticercosis among epileptic patients in Nagpur, Maharashtra state (India)

Published Online: Dec 26, 2023

Page range: 208 - 220

Received: Mar 10, 2021

Accepted: Jul 07, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/helm-2023-0023

KeywordsNeurocysticercosis, Antigens, ELISA, EITB, PCR

© 2023 K. Satyaprakash et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Neurocysticercosis, Antigens, ELISA, EITB, PCR