Authors : Sezim Monoldorova, Mi- Jung Ji, Jiro Kim, Young Keun Kim, Minsun Hong, Choi- Kyu Park, Seung- Cheol Kim and Bo- Young Jeon
Abstract: Chikungunya fever has been emerged as a significant public health problem in tropical and subtropical countries. It is important to develop an efficient and cost-effective diagnostic assay for Chikungunya fever. The Chikungunya Virus (CHIKV) E1 and E2 proteins, the major envelope proteins of CHIKV were expressed using Escherichia coli (E. coli) expression system. The seroreactivity and performance of the recombinant CHIKV E1 and E2 proteins were evaluated in comparison with baculovirus-expressed CHIKV E2 protein using CHIKV IgM indirect Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) with CHIKV-positive specimens from Colombia, a South American CHIKV-endemic country. The mean absorbance values of CHIKV IgM ELISA using E. coli-expressed CHIKV E1 and E2 proteins were 0.61 and 0.73, respectively and these were lower than baculovirus-expressed CHIKV E2 protein’s (p<0.001). The sensitivities of E. coli-expressed CHIKV E1 and E2 proteins were 90.5% (38 of 42) and 92.9% (39 of 42) for anti-CHIKV IgM antibodies, respectively and these were comparable to baculovirus-expressed CHIKV E2 protein (88.1%, 37 of 42) for anti-CHIKV IgM antibodies (p = 0.50). The E. coli-expressed recombinant CHIKV E1 and E2 proteins showed high and comparable performance for the detection of anti-CHIKV IgM antibodies to baculovirus-expressed CHIKV E2 protein. The E. coli-expressed recombinant CHIKV proteins might be a useful substitute for Chikungunya fever diagnosis.
Sezim Monoldorova, Mi- Jung Ji, Jiro Kim, Young Keun Kim, Minsun Hong, Choi- Kyu Park, Seung- Cheol Kim and Bo- Young Jeon, 2020. High Performance of ELISA Using Recombinant Chikungunya Proteins for Diagnosis of Chikungunya Fever. International Journal of Tropical Medicine, 15: 11-18.