Wstępna ocena podejścia opartego na biosensorze do wykrywania przeciwciał ludzkich przeciwko immunopeptydom pochodzenia ptasiego w pneumopatii nadwrażliwościowej

Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis (HP), particularly Bird Fancier’s Lung (BFL), remains underdiagnosed due to the lack of reliable, rapid, and specific diagnostic tools. Current methods—based on clinical history, imaging, and serological testing—are limited in both accuracy and accessibility. Immunobased approaches such as ELISA or Ouchterlony Double Diffusion (ODD) commonly use crude bird droppings as antigens, which often leads to poor specificity due to cross-reactivity. In previous studies, ELISA assays have also been developed using recombinant proteins (biomarkers) identified in pigeon droppings to improve specificity. In our previous study, conducted in collaboration with the Center for Advanced Materials and Technologies (CEZAMAT), Warsaw University of Technology, and the Department of Microbiology, Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases Research Institute (Warsaw), we identified two potential protein biomarkers—IGLL1 and ProE—from pigeon droppings (based on literature review). Instead of using recombinant proteins, we focused on identifying immunogenic B-cell epitopes (peptides) derived from these biomarkers, as they are more cost-effective, offer higher specificity, and reduce batch-to-batch variation. We predicted these epitopes in silico, synthesized the corresponding peptides, and tested their reactivity with patient samples using ELISA. One peptide, IgLL1_Seq1, demonstrated 100% sensitivity and 92% specificity, indicating its potential as a diagnostic marker. The current study aims to evaluate the feasibility of using electrochemical biosensors to detect antibodies against these peptides. Transitioning from ELISA to a biosensor-based method could enable a faster, more sensitive, and specific diagnostic tool suitable for point-of-care applications