Visual typing detection of brucellosis with a lateral flow immunoassay based on coloured latex microspheres.

AIMS: Treatment and preventive control strategies for Brucella melitensis (B. melitensis) and Brucella abortus (B. abortus) infection differ. A lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) for the rapid typing and detection of brucellosis by using polychromatic dye-doped latex microspheres (LMs) as a labelling material was developed.

METHODS AND RESULTS: This LFIA utilize a double-antigen sandwich method in which the BP26 protein is used as the diagnostic antigen to detect brucellosis infection and the OMP31 protein is used as the identified antigen to distinguish bovine and sheep brucellosis. Thus, people and animals infected with brucellosis can be diagnosed according to the different colours of the signals displayed on the detection lines. The results indicated that the accuracy of this assay was found to reach 98%, and the immunochromatographic test strip is highly accurate, shows good sensitivity and can facilitate typing diagnosis, among other features.

CONCLUSIONS: The established LFIA can distinguish B. melitensis infection from B. abortus infection and produces results in a short period of time while retaining the advantages of lateral flow immunoassays.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This technology lays a foundation for the development of multi-disease test strips and the establishment of methods for rapid, multi-specimen quantitative detection and is thus of great importance for the development of medical diagnostic technologies.