Antigens with the potential to differentiate between acute and chronic phases of Schistosoma mansoni (984.2)

Abstract

Schistosomiasis mansoni is a serious problem of public health in the world and the improvement and development of new diagnostics tests is necessary to the control of disease. Our group performed a study in different areas in southeast of Brazil, with acute and chronic patients. The samples of serum and feces of patients were collected and submitted to Kato‐Katz and ELISA to diagnostic. Positive patients were treated with praziquantel and monitored after treatment. Western blotting analysis using cercariae, adult worms and eggs antigens was applied to these samples for screening of immunoreactive fractions. Some fractions were more immnunoreactive to specific phases and others decreased the intensity after treatment. Five fractions were selected to compose a diagnostic kit: two with 18 and 25 kDa to detected acute phase and one with 22 kDa to chronic phase, all of cercariae newly transformed antigens; one with 50 kDa to detected acute and chronic phase and two with 17 and 20 kDa to detected the post‐treatment phase, all of egg antigens. These fractions will be indentified and recombinant proteins produced to confection of an indirect diagnostic based in lateral flow methodology. This assay is fast, simple, requires less equipment, and is an accurate tool of screening for low resource‐regions. Grant Funding Source: Supported by Capes, CNPq, Fiocruz, PDTIS (Brazil), Fiotec, UFSJ