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Thus, the development of a serological test is urgently needed as it will allow the diagnosis of PcP using blood, an inexpensive and non-invasive specimen. This study aims to combine the production of a multi-epitope synthetic recombinant antigen (RSA) and an ELISA test for detection of anti-<jats:italic>P. jirovecii<\/jats:italic> antibodies, in order to develop a new approach for PcP diagnosis. The RSA was selected and designed based on the study of the immunogenicity of the carboxyl-terminal domain of the major surface glycoprotein. This antigen was purified and used as an antigenic tool in an ELISA technique for detection of Ig, IgG and IgM antibodies anti-<jats:italic>P. jirovecii<\/jats:italic> (patent-pending no. PT109078). Serum specimens from 88 patients previously categorized in distinct clinical subgroups and 17 blood donors, were analysed. The IgM anti-<jats:italic>P. jirovecii<\/jats:italic> levels were statistically increased in patients with PcP (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.001) and the ELISA IgM anti-<jats:italic>P. jirovecii<\/jats:italic> test presented a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 80.8%, when associated with the clinical diagnosis criteria. This innovative approach, provides good insights about what can be done in the future serum testing for PcP diagnosis.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1038\/srep36287","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2016,11,8]],"date-time":"2016-11-08T10:07:42Z","timestamp":1478599662000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":16,"title":["Serological diagnosis of pneumocystosis: production of a synthetic recombinant antigen for immunodetection of Pneumocystis jirovecii"],"prefix":"10.1038","volume":"6","author":[{"given":"A. 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