Detection of Equine Antibodies to Babesia caballiby Recombinant B. caballiRhoptry-Associated Protein 1 in a Competitive-Inhibition Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay

ABSTRACTA competitive-inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) was developed for detection of equine antibodies specific forBabesia caballi. The assay used recombinant B. caballirhoptry-associated protein 1 (RAP-1) and monoclonal antibody (MAb) 79/17.18.5, which is reactive with a peptide epitope of a native 60-kDa B. caballiantigen. The gene encoding the recombinant antigen was sequenced, and database analysis revealed that the gene product is a rhoptry-associated protein. Cloning and expression of a truncated copy of the gene demonstrated that MAb 79/17.18.5 reacts with the C-terminal repeat region of the protein. The cELISA was used to evaluate 302 equine serum samples previously tested for antibodies to B. caballiby a standardized complement fixation test (CFT). The results of cELISA and CFT were 73% concordant. Seventy-two of the 77 serum samples with discordant results were CFT negative and cELISA positive. Further evaluation of the serum samples with discordant results by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) demonstrated that at a serum dilution of 1:200, 48 of the CFT-negative and cELISA-positive serum samples contained antibodies reactive with B. caballiRAP-1. Four of five CFT-positive and cELISA-negative serum samples contained antibodies reactive withB. caballiwhen they were tested by IFA. These data indicate that following infection with B. caballi, horses consistently produce antibody to the RAP-1 epitope defined by MAb 79/17.18.5, and when used in the cELISA format, recombinant RAP-1 is a useful antigen for the serologic detection of anti-B. caballiantibodies.