Development and evaluation of a novel high-throughput image-based fluorescent neutralization test for detection of Zika virus infection

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2018 Mar 15;12(3):e0006342. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0006342. eCollection 2018 Mar.

Abstract

Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging arbovirus belonging to the genus flavivirus that comprises other important public health viruses, such as dengue (DENV) and yellow fever (YFV). In general, ZIKV infection is a self-limiting disease, however cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome and congenital brain abnormalities in newborn infants have been reported. Diagnosing ZIKV infection remains a challenge, as viral RNA detection is only applicable until a few days after the onset of symptoms. After that, serological tests must be applied, and, as expected, high cross-reactivity between ZIKV and other flavivirus serology is observed. Plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) is indicated to confirm positive samples for being more specific, however it is laborious intensive and time consuming, representing a major bottleneck for patient diagnosis. To overcome this limitation, we developed a high-throughput image-based fluorescent neutralization test for ZIKV infection by serological detection. Using 226 human specimens, we showed that the new test presented higher throughput than traditional PRNT, maintaining the correlation between results. Furthermore, when tested with dengue virus samples, it showed 50.53% less cross reactivity than MAC-ELISA. This fluorescent neutralization test could be used for clinical diagnosis confirmation of ZIKV infection, as well as for vaccine clinical trials and seroprevalence studies.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antibodies, Neutralizing / blood*
  • Antibodies, Viral / blood*
  • Cross Reactions
  • Dengue / virology
  • Dengue Virus / immunology
  • Fluorescence
  • Fluorescent Antibody Technique
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / methods*
  • Neutralization Tests / methods*
  • Serologic Tests / methods*
  • Viral Plaque Assay
  • Zika Virus / immunology*
  • Zika Virus Infection / blood
  • Zika Virus Infection / diagnosis*
  • Zika Virus Infection / immunology
  • Zika Virus Infection / virology

Substances

  • Antibodies, Neutralizing
  • Antibodies, Viral

Grants and funding

CNDS received financial support from BNDES, Fundação Araucária (fellowships), CNPq and CAPES (all Brazilian Governmental agencies) for funding the research. Nevertheless, the funding for publication fees is very limited. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.