Abstract
Cystic echinococcosis (CE) or hydatid disease is a parasitic infection caused by Echinococcus granulosus. Early serodiagnosis and continuous monitoring of the disease is very important for medical treatment. Here, we report the detecting of both echinococcus antigen and antibody for the diagnosis of hydatid disease using square wave voltammetry (SWV)-based immunosensors. The gold electrodes were functionalized using cysteamine/phenylene diisothiocyanate linkers and used for the immunosensors fabrication. The hydatid antigen and antibody immunosensors were constructed by the immobilization of either purified rabbit polyclonal antibody or recombinant antigen B (AgB), respectively on the functionalized gold electrodes surfaces. The detection in both cases was achieved by following the change in the SWV reduction peak current of the ferro/ferricyanide redox couple upon antibody or antigen binding. These immunosensors enabled the detection of echinococcus antigen and antibody within a concentration range of 1 pg.mL(-1) to 1 mu g.mL(-1) with detection limits of 0.4 pg.mL(-1) and 0.3 pg.mL(-1), respectively. A preliminary application of the developed immunosensor was performed in spiked serum sample showing good recovery percentages ranging from 102 to 110 % for both hydatid antibody and antigen detection. This easy-to-use, sensitive, and low cost quantitative method holds great promise for the early diagnosis of hydatid disease and thus, better managements and treatment outcomes.