{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,24]],"date-time":"2026-07-24T05:02:01Z","timestamp":1784869321728,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,7]],"date-time":"2023-06-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1686096000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000865","name":"Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["INV-021433"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["INV-021433"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000865","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000865","name":"Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["OPP1201530"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["OPP1201530"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000865","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100007338","name":"Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["4618"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["4618"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100007338","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000009","name":"Foundation for the National Institutes of Health","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["T32 HD043010"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["T32 HD043010"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000009","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosntds.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS Negl Trop Dis"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a neglected tropical disease and a major cause of chronic disability. Improved diagnostic tests are needed because of long-term persistence of anti-filarial antibodies or circulating filarial antigenemia after treatments that clear microfilaremia. Here, we assess changes in levels of antibodies to the recombinant filarial antigens Wb-Bhp-1, Wb123, and Bm14 after anti-filarial treatment.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Methodology\/principal findings<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>IgG<jats:sub>4<\/jats:sub> antibodies to recombinant filarial antigens were assessed by ELISA. We tested serial plasma samples from a clinical trial in Papua New Guinea. Before treatment, 90%, 71% and 99% of participants had antibodies to Wb-Bhp-1, Wb123, and Bm14, respectively. Antibodies to Wb-Bhp-1 and Wb123, but not Bm14, were significantly higher in participants with persistent microfilaremia 24 months after treatment. Antibodies to all three antigens declined significantly by 60 months after treatment with ivermectin, diethylcarbamazine and albendazole despite circulating filarial antigen in 76% of participants. By 60 months follow up, antibodies to Wb-Bhp-1, Wb123, and Bm14 were detected in 17%, 7% and 90% of participants, respectively. Antibodies to Wb-Bhp-1 also declined more rapidly after treatment than antibodies to Bm14 in samples from a clinical trial conducted in Sri Lanka. We also tested archived serum samples from people living in filariasis-endemic communities in Egypt with different infection profiles. Antibodies to Wb-Bhp-1 were detected in 73% of microfilaremic people, 53% of amicrofilaremic people with circulating filarial antigen, and 17.5% of endemic individuals without microfilaria or circulating filarial antigen. Tests performed with legacy samples from India showed that few people with filarial lymphedema had antibodies to these recombinant antigens.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Antibodies to Wb-Bhp-1 and Wb123 are more closely correlated with persistent microfilaremia than circulating filarial antigenemia or antibodies to Bm14, and they clear more rapidly after anti-filarial treatment. Additional studies are needed to assess the value of Wb-Bhp-1 serology as a tool for determining the success of LF elimination efforts.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0011364","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,7]],"date-time":"2023-06-07T17:25:52Z","timestamp":1686158752000},"page":"e0011364","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pntd.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["IgG4 antibodies to the recombinant filarial antigen Wb-Bhp-1 decrease dramatically following treatment of lymphatic filariasis"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6561-2698","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Sarah E.","family":"Greene","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuefang","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kurt C.","family":"Curtis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christopher L.","family":"King","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peter U.","family":"Fischer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gary J.","family":"Weil","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,7]]},"reference":[{"issue":"20","key":"pntd.0011364.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1956","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMc1914262","article-title":"Single-Dose Triple-Drug Therapy for Wuchereria bancrofti\u20145-Year Follow-up","volume":"382","author":"CL King","year":"2020","journal-title":"N Engl J Med"},{"issue":"19","key":"pntd.0011364.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1801","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa1706854","article-title":"A Trial of a Triple-Drug Treatment for Lymphatic Filariasis","volume":"379","author":"CL King","year":"2018","journal-title":"N Engl J Med"},{"issue":"7","key":"pntd.0011364.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e68","DOI":"10.1093\/cid\/ciz1050","article-title":"Efficacy and Safety of a Single Dose of Ivermectin, Diethylcarbamazine, and Albendazole for Treatment of Lymphatic Filariasis in Cote d\u2019Ivoire: An Open-label Randomized Controlled Trial","volume":"71","author":"CM Bjerum","year":"2020","journal-title":"Clin Infect Dis"},{"key":"pntd.0011364.ref004","unstructured":"World Health Organization Lymphatic filariasis [Web page]. World Health Organization; [Accessed 12\/2\/2022]. Available from: https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/fact-sheets\/detail\/lymphatic-filariasis."},{"key":"pntd.0011364.ref005","volume-title":"Monitoring and epidemiological assessment of mass drug administration in the global programme to eliminate lymphatic filariasis: a manual for national elimination programmes","author":"WHO.","year":"2011"},{"key":"pntd.0011364.ref006","article-title":"Ending the neglect to attain the Sustainable Development Goals: A road map for neglected tropical diseases 2021\u20132030","author":"MM Ntuli","year":"2021"},{"issue":"1","key":"pntd.0011364.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0011010","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0011010","article-title":"The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory response to combat neglected tropical diseases (NTDs): A review","volume":"17","author":"S. 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