A Novel Antigen, Otubain Cysteine Peptidase of Leishmania donovani, for the Serodiagnosis of Visceral Leishmaniasis and for Monitoring Treatment Response.

Tests for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) are not uniformly effective for all endemic regions. In a serological assay, a novel antigen, otubain cysteine peptidase, compared with rK39, showed comparable sensitivity with Indian VL serum samples and prominently increased sensitivity with Brazilian samples, as well as improved monitoring of the treatment response.