Immuno-fluorescence based Vi capsular polysaccharide detection for specific recognition of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi in clinical samples.

Typhoid fever is a life threatening bacterial infection that remains a major global health concern. This continued high burden associated with significant morbidity and mortality rate demands specific and rapid detection technique. This work reports a new sandwich type fluorescence immunoassay format using polymyxin B, a cationic receptor molecule, as a binder agent while anti-Vi antibody served as the capturing agent for specifically detecting Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi. Anti-Vi IgG antibody raised against Vi-BSA conjugate revealed affinity of 7.779nM(-1) signifying immunodominancy of O-acetyls groups in Vi polysaccharide. The detection limit of the developed assay was around 10(1) cellsmL(-1) of Vi expressing Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi with a correlation coefficient (R(2)) equal to 0.97. Positive response obtained for all the tested serovar Typhi clinical isolates as well as the pathogen spiked blood samples recommended specificity and accuracy of Vi antigen as a biomarker during typhoid fever. The intra- and inter-assay precision with Vi spiked samples were satisfactory revealing coefficient of variance (CV%) with a mean of 4.05% and 5.97% respectively. This may be the novel attempt and constructive report on the fluorescence based detection of Vi antigen of serovar Typhi in the epidemic as well as pandemic outbreaks.