Detection of urinary antigens and their seroreactivity with serum of patients in Leishmania donovani infection

Objective To detect leishmanial antigens in pre and post treated urine of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) patients. Methods Urine and serum sample from three VL patients were collected. Ammonium sulphate precipitation and purification of urine sample was done for proteins isolation. SDS PAGE of proteins was done followed by western blotting, with the patient's pre and post treatment serum. Results Eight proteins of molecular weights 17 kDa, 25 kDa, 28 kDa, 42 kDa, 47 kDa, 54 kDa, 60 kDa and 85 kDa were detected in the urine of VL patients before treatment. After treatment with miltefosine, none of the above proteins was detected in urine samples. The western blot analysis with pre treatment serum confirmed the antigenicity of four urinary proteins of molecular weights 25 kDa, 28 kDa, 54 kDa and 60 kDa. The seropositivity with 25 kDa and 28 kDa antigens was negative with serum obtained after the completion of treatment. Conclusions In the context to unavailability of a prognostic tool, urinary leishmanial antigens may offer a better choice and may also be useful as immunoprophylactic candidates.