Journal
PATHOGENS
Volume 11, Issue 7, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/pathogens11070738
Keywords
BCG; biomarkers; bovine tuberculosis; cytokines; chemokines; diagnostics; pro-inflammatory
Categories
Funding
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Institute Strategic Programme funding [BB/P013740/1, BBS/E/D/20002174]
- Q.M. Gastmann-Wichers Foundation
- University of Edinburgh
- Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands
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This study investigated the potential biomarkers for diagnosing bovine tuberculosis and found that IL-2, IP-10, and IFN gamma could be useful in discriminating between uninfected, BCG-vaccinated, and M. bovis-infected animals.
Bovine tuberculosis (bTB), caused by Mycobacterium bovis, is a globally prevalent infectious disease with significant animal welfare and economic impact. Difficulties in implementing test-and-slaughter measures in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and the underperformance of the current diagnostics establish a clear need to develop improved diagnostics. Adaptive immunity biomarkers other than IFN gamma could be useful as suggested by various gene expression studies; however, a comprehensive assessment at the protein level is lacking. Here, we screened a range of chemokines and cytokines for their potential as biomarkers in samples from M. bovis experimentally challenged or naive animals. Although serum concentrations for most proteins were low, the pro-inflammatory markers, IL-2, CXCL-9, IP-10 and CCL4, in addition to IFN gamma, were found to be significantly elevated in bovine tuberculin (PPDb)-stimulated whole blood supernatants. Further assessment of these molecules in BCG-vaccinated with or without subsequent M. bovis challenge or naive animals revealed that PPDb-specific IL-2 and IP-10, in addition to IFN gamma, could discriminate naive and BCG-vaccinated from M. bovis challenged animals. Moreover, these proteins, along with CCL4, showed DIVA potential, i.e., enabling differentiation of M. bovis-infected animals from BCG-vaccinated animals. Combined analysis of cytokines and chemokines could also accurately identify M. bovis infection with strong correlations observed between PPDb-specific IFN gamma, IL-2 and IP-10 levels. This provides proof of concept for utilizing multiple biomarker signatures for discrimination of animals with respect to M. bovis infection or BCG vaccination status.
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