Background: Hydatid disease is a serious parasitic disease threatening public health. Because of its rarity in non-endemic coastal areas, determining the nature and origin of a chronic, enlarged liver cystic mass is challenging in these regions. Under these circumstances, physicians need a confirmatory diagnostic tool beyond immunological and radiological examinations. This study investigated a novel human single-chain fragment variable (scFv) antibody for the confirmative diagnosis of 18 atypical hydatid disease cases in non-endemic coastal areas.

Results: A scFv antibody against cystic echinococcosis was produced by genetic engineering and then applied to the immunohistochemical diagnosis of 18 cases of cystic echinococcosis presented in non-endemic coastal areas. The diagnosis of these cases by ultrasound and serum-based examinations was inconclusive. The 750 bp scFv antibody gene was expressed in COS-7 cells, and the antibody localized in the cytoplasm. The scFv antibody can detect the germinal layer and protoscolices of actively growing cysts but not of the degenerating protoscolices and has a diagnostic efficiency higher than that of single serum or ultrasound testing (P < 0.05). The combined use of scFv antibodies with serology and ultrasound diagnostics results in a diagnostic efficiency comparable to that of surgery. The scFv antibody can be used as a confirmatory test for the diagnosis of hydatid disease in non-endemic areas, providing a beneficial supplementary diagnostic method that complements traditional immune testing and ultrasonic radiology and thus helping physicians to effectively differentiate hydatid disease.