ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Infectious Agents and Disease
This article is part of the Research TopicOne Health Approach to Mycobacterial Infections in Veterinary Science - volume IIView all 3 articles
Exploring specific biomarkers in blood for in vitro diagnosis of caprine tuberculosis
Provisionally accepted
CARLOS VELASCO REINALDOS
A. RoyF. Cruz-Lopez
Alberto Gomez-BuendiaJ. OrtegaS. Mendez-Lopez
LUCIA DE JUAN
Lucas Dominguez
BEATRIZ ROMERO MARTINEZ
Julio Alvarez
Javier Bezos*- Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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Abstract Introduction: Caprine tuberculosis (cTB) is a zoonotic disease with significant implications for animal and public health and economic impact. Therefore, accurate ante-mortem diagnosis is essential. Diagnosis in goats rely on the single and comparative intradermal tuberculin test (SITT and CITT, respectively), both of which showinghaving limited diagnostic performance. The aim of the study was to characterize the immune and physiological responses toagainst cTB in naturally infected goats and to identifyscreen for potential in vitro biomarkers that could improveenhance the reliability of cTB diagnosis. Methodology: The study was conductedperformed in a cTB -infected herd and goats were classified as reactors (with a positive result to SITT or IFN-γ release assay and considered as infected) and non-reactors. Basal production of fifteen key immune cytokines was measured in plasma samples (n=19) and compared with levelsthat observed after stimulation with a bovine purified protein derivative (PPDb). Acute phase proteins (haptoglobin/Hp and serum amyloid-A/SAA) and oxidative stress markers (total antioxidant status/TAS and malondialdehyde/MDA) were determined in serum samples (n=90) while complete blood count (CBC) was performed on whole-blood samples (n=44). Results and discussion: Regarding cytokine pattern expression patterns, plasma levels of IFN-γ and IFN-γ-inducible protein 10 (IP-10) in PPDb-stimulated samples were significantly higher (p<0.005 and p<0.001, respectively) in reactor goats than those found in non-reactor goats. WhenAlso considering the difference between PPDb and PBS-stimulated samples (Δ-cytokine), levels of Δ-IFN-γ, Δ-IP-10 and Δ-IL-1α were significantly higher (p=0.0006, p<0.0001 and p=0.022, respectively) in reactor goats compared to non-reactor. In addition, significantly higher (p=0.014) levels of serum TAS were observed in reactor vs. non-reactor goats whereaswhile no significant differences (p>0.05) were found for Hp, SAA and MDA. Finally, among the CBC parameters, only the percentage of mid-range cells was significantly higher (p<0.05) in reactor vs. non-reactor goats. This study demonstrates the differential expression of immunological (IFN-γ, IP-10 and IL-1α) and physiological (TAS) biomarkers in reactor goats reacting to TB diagnostic tests and suggest their potential as biomarkers of cTB -infection. These findingsis could lead to the development of novelew diagnostic in vitro methodologies and contribute to more effective cTB eradication strategies. in goats.
Keywords: Acute phaseproteins, complete blood count, diagnosis, Goat, IFN-γ, IP-10cytokines, Oxidative Stress, Tuberculosis
Received: 11 Dec 2025; Accepted: 03 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 VELASCO REINALDOS, Roy, Cruz-Lopez, Gomez-Buendia, Ortega, Mendez-Lopez, DE JUAN, Dominguez, ROMERO MARTINEZ, Alvarez and Bezos. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Javier Bezos
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