A rapid diagnostic test for human Visceral Leishmaniasis using novel Leishmania antigens in a Laser Direct-Write Lateral Flow Device

Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) causes high morbidity and mortality in low-to-middle-income countries worldwide. In this study, we used Laser Direct-Write (LDW) technology to develop a new Lateral Flow Device (LFD) with double-channel geometry on a low-cost paper platform as a rapid and accurate serodiagnostic assay for human VL. This Duplex VL-LFD was based on a laser-patterned microfluidic device using two recombinant Leishmania proteins, β-tubulin and LiHyp1, as novel diagnostic antigens. The VL-LFD assay was tested with blood/serum samples from patients diagnosed with VL, Tegumentary Leishmaniasis, Leishmaniasis of unknown identity, other parasitic diseases with similar clinical symptoms, i.e. Leprosy Disease and Chagas Disease, and blood from healthy donors, and compared in parallel with commercial rK39 IT-LEISH^® Kit. Clinical diagnosis and real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction assay were used as reference standards. VL-LFD Sensitivity (S ± 95% Confidence Intervals (CI)) of 90.9 (78.9-100) and Specificity (Sp ± 95% CI) of 98.7 (96.1-100) outperformed the IT-LEISH^® Kit [S = 77.3 (59.8-94.8), Sp = 94.7 (89.6-99.8)]. This is the first study reporting successful development of an LFD assay using the LDW technology and the VL-LFD warrants comparative testing in larger patient cohorts and in areas with endemic VL in order to improve diagnosis and disease management.