Development of a rapid scabies immunodiagnostic assay based on transcriptomic analysis of Sarcoptes scabiei var. nyctereutis

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 6455
• Main Authors: Akuta, Teruo, Minegishi, Daisuke, Kido, Nobuhide, Imaizumi, Keitaro, Nakaoka, Shinji, Tachibana, Shin-Ichiro, Hikosaka, Kenji, Hori, Fumi, Masataka, Nakagawa, Sakuma, Chiaki, Oouchi, Yuki, Nakajima, Yu, Tanaka, Sohei, Omiya, Tomoko, Morikaku, Kouki, Kawahara, Minori, Tada, Yoshifumi, Tarui, Hiroshi, Ueda, Takafumi, Kikuchi-Ueda, Takane, Ono, Yasuo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 19-03-2021; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/1647; 631/181; 631/337; 631/45; 631/61; 692/308; 692/4017; 692/53; 692/699; Allergens; Antigens; Diagnosis; Humanities and Social Sciences; Mites; multidisciplinary; Parasitic diseases; Proteins; Sarcoptes scabiei; Scabies; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Skin diseases; Vitellogenin; Wildlife
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-85290-7

Scabies is a highly contagious skin disease caused by the mite
Sarcoptes scabiei
that affects many mammals. However, the sensitivity of traditional tests for scabies diagnosis in humans is less than 50%. To simplify the diagnosis of scabies, methods that are simple, sensitive, specific, and cost-effective are required. We developed an immunodiagnostic test based on
S. scabiei
var.
nyctereutis
RNA-seq data collected from Japanese raccoon dogs with sarcoptic mange. Three candidate antigens—a highly expressed hypothetical protein “QR98_0091190,” another mite allergen known as “SMIPP-Cc,” and an abundant “vitellogenin-like protein”—were evaluated by western-blot analysis. A lateral flow immunoassay, using specific antibodies against the vitellogenin-like protein, successfully detected scabies in the skin flakes of
S. scabiei
-infected raccoon dogs. This assay can potentially diagnose scabies more accurately in wildlife, as well as in humans.