NOVEL PEPTIDES FOR DIAGNOSIS OF CYSTIC ECHINOCOCCOSIS

摘要

Echinococcus granulosus is a parasite which infects humans and animals and causes the disease Cystic echinococcosis. It causes the formation of ˜cysts™ in humans (mainly in liver and lungs), which has serious physiological repercussions and if left untreated, can be fatal. The disease is difficult to diagnose as crude extract (cystic fluid) used for diagnosis often shows cross reactivity with several other helminthic diseases. The present invention discloses novel peptide sequences of just 8-19 amino acids each, which are highly specific for the parasite causing the disease and can be used for the preparation of specific antibodies. These can be used as diagnostic agents for the development of diagnostic kits for the specific diagnosis of the disease. The novelty of the peptides obtained was confirmed by various in-silico tools such as BLAST, PDB database, Modeller program, Autodock program, Swiss Model etc.