Evaluation of the diagnostic potential of urinary N-Acetyltyramine-O,β-glucuronide (NATOG) as diagnostic biomarker for Onchocerca volvulus infection.

Background Onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness is one of the neglected tropical diseases affecting millions of people, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa and is caused by the filarial nematode Onchocerca volvulus. Efforts to eliminate this disease are ongoing and are based on mass drug administration programs with the microfilaricide ivermectin. In order to monitor the efficacy of these programs, there is an unmet need for diagnostic tools capable of identifying infected patients. We have investigated the diagnostic potential of urinary N-acetyltyramine-O,β-glucuronide (NATOG), which is a promising O. volvulus specific biomarker previously identified by urine metabolome analysis.