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Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, December 2006, p. 1314-1321, Vol. 13, No. 12
1071-412X/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CVI.00254-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Use of the Immunodominant 18-Kilodalton Small Heat Shock Protein as a Serological Marker for Exposure to Mycobacterium ulcerans{triangledown}

Diana Diaz,1 Heinz Döbeli,2 Dorothy Yeboah-Manu,1,3 Ernestina Mensah-Quainoo,4 Arno Friedlein,2 Nicole Soder,2 Simona Rondini,1 Thomas Bodmer,5 and Gerd Pluschke1*

Molecular Immunology, Swiss Tropical Institute, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland,1 F. Hoffmann La-Roche, Ltd., CH-4070 Basel, Switzerland,2 Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Legon, Ghana,3 Ghana Health Service, Tema District, Ghana,4 Institute for Infectious Diseases, Berne, Switzerland5

Received 12 July 2006/ Returned for modification 7 August 2006/ Accepted 22 September 2006

While it is well established that proximity to wetlands is a risk factor for contracting Buruli ulcer, it is not clear what proportion of a population living in an area where the etiologic agent, Mycobacterium ulcerans, is endemic is actually exposed to this disease. Immunological cross-reactivity among mycobacterial species complicates the development of a specific serological test. Among immunodominant proteins recognized by a panel of anti-M. ulcerans monoclonal antibodies, the M. ulcerans homologue of the M. leprae 18-kDa small heat shock protein (shsp) was identified. Since this shsp has no homologues in M. bovis and M. tuberculosis, we evaluated its use as a target antigen for a serological test. Anti-18-kDa shsp antibodies were frequently found in the sera of Buruli ulcer patients and of healthy household contacts but rarely found in controls from regions where the infection is not endemic. The results indicate that only a small proportion of M. ulcerans-infected individuals contract the clinical disease.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Socinstr. 57, Swiss Tropical Institute, CH 4002 Basel, Switzerland. Phone: 41 61 2848235. Fax: 41 61 2848101. E-mail: Gerd.Pluschke{at}unibas.ch.

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 4 October 2006.

Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, December 2006, p. 1314-1321, Vol. 13, No. 12
1071-412X/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CVI.00254-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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