Proof-of-Concept Rapid Diagnostic Test for Onchocerciasis: Exploring Peptide Biomarkers and the Use of Gold Nanoshells As Reporter Nanoparticles

Three O. volvulus immunogenic peptide sequences recently discovered by peptide microarray were adapted to a lateral flow assay (LFA). The LFA employs gold nanoshells as novel high-contrast reporter nanoparticles and detects a serological response against the 3 peptides, found in OvOC9384, OvOC198, and OvOC5528, respectively. When tested on 118 sera from O. volvulus infected patients and 208 control sera, the LFA was 90%, 63%, and 98% sensitive for each peptide, respectively, and 99-100% specific vs samples from healthy volunteers. Samples of other filarial infections cross-reacted by 7-24%. The sensitivity, specificity, and cross-reactivity values matched those obtained by ELISA with the same sample set. While the exact choice of peptide(s) will require fine-tuning, this work establishes that O. volvulus peptides identified by peptide microarray can be translated into an antibody-based LFA and that gold nanoshells provide the same sensitivity, specificity, and cross-reactivity as the corresponding ELISA assays.