A direct sandwich ELISA to detect antibodies against the C-terminal region of merozoite surface protein 1 could be a useful diagnostic method to identify Plasmodium vivax exposed persons

We expressed a C-terminal 108-aa region of the Plasmodium vivax merozoite surface protein 1 (PvMSP1c) excluding the C-end transmembrane region in Escherichia coli in order to evaluate the antibody level to MSP in Korean malaria patients. We optimized a direct sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method to simultaneously determine the total antibody levels, including IgG and IgM, to PvMSP1c. If the cut-off for seropositivity was determined as the mean+3SD of the antibody levels of the negative control group, the antibody levels were positive in 99.5% of the patient group (sensitivity 199/200). The antibody levels were negative in 99.4% of the negative control group (specificity 504/507). The positive reactions in the negative control group came from non-specific reactions, as confirmed by a competition assay. This direct sandwich ELISA for PvMSP1c antibody could prove to be a useful tool for the diagnosis of malaria patients and for blood screening in blood banks.