A polypeptide antigen of 74.0 kDa molecular weight was detected in the antigenic extracts of the 3 developmental stages of Schistosoma mansoni (eggs, cercariae, and adult worms) by western blotting using BRL4 monoclonal antibody (mAb) that significantly protected mice at the levels of 51.6%, 42%, and 53.8% against challenge S. mansoni infection in 3 separate experiments. This antigen was isolated and purified from crude soluble worm antigen preparation by immunoaffinity chromatography using CNBr-activated sepharose-4B beads coupled with the BRL4 mAb. The purified antigen showed a single peak when analyzed by both high-performance liquid chromatography and high-performance capillary electrophoresis. The 74-kDa antigen was characterized as a protein in nature with 56.9% hydrophilic amino acids and 43.1% hydrophobic amino acids. This antigen was detected in 93% of urine samples from infected cases with specificity of 89% among noninfected cases using an enzyme immunoassay-fast dot-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay based on BRL4 mAb.

Background: Liver cirrhosis is the most common cause of portal hypertension (PH). Esophageal varices (OV) are the most critical portosystemic shunts that develop secondary to portal hypertension, which is considered a main complication of liver cirrhosis. Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of serum markerbased indices and portal vein diameter assessed by ultrasound in patients of portal hypertension due to liver cirrhosis in prediction of large esophageal varices, graded on endoscopy. Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study included sixty-six patients with liver cirrhosis who were admitted to Internal Medicine Department, Zagazig University Hospitals for screening the presence of esophageal varices and investigating and/or treating of the patients. The study was performed at a period from September 2019 to February 2020 Diagnosis of liver cirrhosis depended on typical clinical, laboratory, and ultrasound features. Results: There were statistically significant differences between large and small esophageal varices regarding AST, ALT, INR (higher in patients with large OV), platelet count (higher in patients with small OV). Conclusions: It could be concluded that Doppler ultrasonography is a non-invasive quantitative technique for the assessment of hemodynamic changes in patients with portal hypertension and appears to be useful in the identification of patients with liver cirrhosis at risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding.