Author(s)

Vanessa Irumva¹, Rebecca Waihenya², Anne Wanjiru Mwangi^3,4*, Peter Kipkemboi³, Satoshi Kaneko^3,5, Tonny Teya³, Joanne Jepkemei³, Caroline Njoroge³, Joseph Wambugu Gitari³, Matthew Mutinda Munyao³, Robinson M. Irekwa³, Mûrîma Ng’ang’a⁶, Samson Muuo Nzou^3,7

¹Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Pan-African University Institute of Basic Sciences, Technology and Innovation, Nairobi, Kenya.
²Zoology Department, Jomo Kenyatta University for Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya.
³Nagasaki University Institute of Tropical Medicine-Kenya Medical Research Institute Project, Nairobi, Kenya.
⁴Production Department-Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.
⁵Institute of Tropical Medicine, Eco-Epidemiology Department, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.
⁶Division of Vector Borne and Neglected Tropical Diseases. Ministry of Health, Nairobi, Kenya.
⁷Centre for Microbiology Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Busia, Kenya.

Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) affects up to half a million people every year in sub-Saharan Africa. Interruption of transmission of the disease by early diagnosis and treatment is core to the control and eventual elimination of HAT. The routine diagnostic method for HAT is light microscopy of blood samples. The present study sought to evaluate the potential of TbgI₂ and TbgI₁₇ tandem repeat antigens as candidates for the diagnosis of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense. The expressed proteins were purified and the antigenic reactivity evaluation was done using multiplex assay using sera obtained from HAT patients. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that recombinant antigen, TbgI₂ had high sensitivity for sera from patients infected with T. b. rhodesiense with the area under the curve being 0.577 and a sensitivity of 0.641 and specificity 0.650. The results suggest that TbgI₂ is a potential biomarker for T. b. rhodesiense HAT serodiagnostic tests.

Human African Trypanosomiasis, TbgI₂, TbgI₁₇, Antigens, Diagnosis, Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense

Irumva, V. , Waihenya, R. , Mwangi, A. , Kipkemboi, P. , Kaneko, S. , Teya, T. , Jepkemei, J. , Njoroge, C. , Gitari, J. , Munyao, M. , Irekwa, R. , Ng’ang’a, M. and Nzou, S. (2019) Evaluation of the TbgI₂ and TbgI₁₇ Tandem Repeat Antigens as Potential Antigens for the Diagnosis of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense. Open Journal of Clinical Diagnostics, 9, 152-163. doi: 10.4236/ojcd.2019.94011.