Development of a Lateral Flow Immunoassay for the Rapid Diagnosis of Invasive Candidiasis

Abstract

Early and accurate diagnosis of invasive candidiasis (IC) is very important. In this study, a lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) was developed to detect antibody against Candida albicans enolase (Eno). Colloidal gold particle labeled mouse anti human IgG (1.0 mg/L) was used as the detector reagent. Recombinant enolase (rEno, 1.0 mg/L) and goat anti IgG (1.0 mg/L) were immobilized in test and control lines, respectively, of a nitrocellulose membrane, acting as the capture reagents. The LFIA was used to detect anti Eno in 38 sera from clinically proven IC patients, as well as in 50 healthy control subjects. Compared with an indirect ELISA designed as a reference test, the specificity and sensitivity of the LFIA were 98.2 and 84.8%, respectively. Excellent agreement between the results obtained by ELISA and the LFIA (κ = 0.851) was observed in this study. In addition, the agreement between the blood culture results and LFIA test is strong (κ = 0.658). The data presented in the study indicate that the LFIA test is a suitable tool for the serological surveillance of IC in the field or in poorly equipped laboratories.

Development of Solid-Phase RPA on a Lateral Flow Device for the Detection of Pathogens Related to Sepsis

“…Sepsis POC has the potential to improve the time from detection to the treatment of patients, allowing for a reduced death rate and to prevent permanent damage to the organs [ 25 ]. Examples of lateral flow being used to detect sepsis can be seen in [ 26 , 27 ], yet many do not target the broad range of pathogens that can lead to sepsis.…”

Direct Detection of Candida albicans with a Membrane Based Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy Sensor

“…There are many pathogenic microorganisms such as virus, bacteria or fungi that can cause a disease in a population of patients with an impaired immune response. Fungal infections have recently become a major concern for the health of immunocompromised patients and their current diagnosis is lengthy and lacks accuracy [ 1 , 5 ]. A common cause of infections is fungi of Candida species , in particular Candida albicans ( C.albicans ).…”

“…A common cause of infections is fungi of Candida species , in particular Candida albicans ( C.albicans ). It is an opportunistic pathogen that causes severe illness among immunocompromised patients [ 2 , 4 , 5 ]. Candidiasis is mainly an endogenous infection produced by the overgrowth of fungi due to physiological changes in the body, e.g., the imbalances in the gut microbiota [ 3 , 6 , 7 ].…”

“…The weakness of this method is primarily the time-to-answer, which takes at least 2 days but also its low sensitivity as various factors affect the growth of C. albicans in a laboratory setting [ 1 ]. Other diagnostic tests based on detection of C. albicans cell wall components, mainly polysaccharides, such as mannan and -D-glucan are considered beneficial [ 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ]. However, their diagnostic value is undermined by many described cases of false positive results, as their concentration in blood is not specific and can be affected by dietary requirements or former administration of drugs [ 5 , 8 ].…”

“…A lot of effort has been put in establishing a successful polymerase chain reaction (PCR) protocol for detection of C. albicans in a blood sample. Although fast and species specific, this method amplifies also DNA from non-viable C. albicans cells, leading to false positives [ 5 , 11 ]. Other diagnostic methods involving detection of host anti- Candida specific antibodies are a valid choice but their use in immunodeficient patients is limited [ 8 , 9 ].…”