{"doi":"10.1093/infdis/jiaf147","title":"Circulating Cell-Free Nucleic Acid Detection for <i>Wuchereria bancrofti</i> Infections","abstract":"Human lymphatic filariasis (LF) is primarily caused by the helminth parasites Wuchereria bancrofti (Wb) and Brugia malayi (Bm). Detecting parasitic circulating cell-free nucleic acids (ccfDNA/ccfRNA) in plasma is a promising approach for detection of active infections. Plasma RNA sequencing analyses from individuals with active Wb infection and uninfected controls identified 6 RNA targets that were specific to Wb and/or Bm. Assays developed to detect either ccfDNA and ccfRNA were successfully used in Wb-infected individuals, but DNA-based assays targeting WbTR1 were found to be the most sensitive biomarker of Wb circulating cell-free nucleic acids. Plasma-derived ccfDNA was identified in 71% (of all microfilaria-positive individuals) of Wb infections from India, the Cook Islands, Mali, Haiti, and Guyana. Following definitive treatment, time course analyses indicated that WbTR1 ccfDNA levels were undetectable within a year. Overall, ccfDNA/ccfRNA detection in lymphatic filariasis holds promise for assessment of infection and treatment response in Wb and Bm infections.","journal":"The Journal of Infectious Diseases","year":2025,"id":563083,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":0,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9629,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2025-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":956701,"name":"Paul Schaughency","orcid":"0000-0002-3358-2102","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":287794,"name":"Thomas B. Nutman","orcid":"0000-0001-6887-4941","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":289402,"name":"Sasisekhar Bennuru","orcid":"0000-0002-6117-742X","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1465421,"name":"Marisa Martinez Salazar","orcid":"0000-0002-7891-3489","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":31,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:56:09.638214Z","pmid":"40091227","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}