Development of an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) as a tool to detect NS1 of dengue virus serotype 2 in female Aedes aegypti eggs for the surveillance of dengue fever transmission

Rocío Argotte-Ramos; Jorge Cime-Castillo; Valeria Vargas; Humberto Lanz-Mendoza; Mario H Rodriguez; Maria Carmen Rodriguez

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e29329

Development of an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) as a tool to detect NS1 of dengue virus serotype 2 in female Aedes aegypti eggs for the surveillance of dengue fever transmission

Heliyon. 2024 Apr 6;10(8):e29329. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e29329. eCollection 2024 Apr 30.

Authors

Rocío Argotte-Ramos¹, Jorge Cime-Castillo¹, Valeria Vargas¹, Humberto Lanz-Mendoza¹, Mario H Rodriguez¹, Maria Carmen Rodriguez¹

Affiliation

¹ Centro de Investigación Sobre Enfermedades Infecciosas, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México. Av. Universidad 655, C. P. 62100 Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.

Abstract

Dengue is a significant disease transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes in the tropics and subtropics worldwide. The disease is caused by four virus (DENV) serotypes and is transmitted to humans by female Aedes aegypti mosquito bites infected with the virus and vertically to their progeny. Current strategies to control dengue transmission focus on the vector. In this study, we describe an indirect Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), using a monoclonal antibody against the non-structural dengue virus protein 1 (NS1), to detect DENV2 in Ae. aegypti eggs. The assay detects NS1 in eggs homogenates with 87.5% sensitivity and 75.0% specificity and it is proposed as a tool for the routine entomovirological surveillance of DENV 2 in field mosquito populations.

Keywords: Aedes aegypti; Dengue virus; ELISA; Egg homogenates; NS1; Surveillance.