Deciphering Western Blots of Tapeworm Antigens (Taenia solium, Echinococcus granulosus, and Taenia crassiceps) Reacting with Sera from Neurocysticercosis and Hydatid Disease Patients

Human Neurocysticercosis: Comparison of Different Diagnostic Tests Using Cerebrospinal Fluid

“…It is also estimated that the specificity of Ab detection for identifying active infection is around 30%, mainly due to the persistence of antibodies months or years after the resolution of the infection (22). Extraneural cysticercosis and cross-reactions with other cestodes and helminths can also contribute to false-positive results obtained by using serum antibodies (22,27). However, better Ab detection is reported when Ab are detected in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of neurological patients (6).…”

The significance of free and immune-complexed hydatid-specific antigen(s) as an immunodiagnostic tool for human hydatidosis

“…13 The 67-kDa hydatid antigen is one subunit of antigen '5'. This subunit has been shown to crossreact either with other helminths2t [15][16][17] or with human albumin.2* 22 Thus, an assay system to detect either the 67-kDa antigen or antibodies to it may not be specific for hydatidosis.16* l7 Therefore, it is pertinent to identify hydatid-specific antigen(s), in order to develop a specific and sensitive immunodiagnostic tool. Recently we have reported that 8-kDa and 116-kDa hydatid antigens were always recognised by sera of hydatid patients and never by sera from patients with other…”

“…Recently, two major antigenic components of hydatid cyst fluid, antigen 5 and antigen B, have been employed to improve the specificity of antibody detection assays.l* Antigen 5 is a thermolabile lipoprotein and has been shown to be specific for the formation of arc '5' in immunoelectrophoresis.1° Antigen B is a thermostable lipoprotein. Recent investigations revealed that antigen ' 5 ' or antigen B also cross-react with sera from subjects with other helminth infections, especially cysticercosis.lv '9 [15][16][17] Recently, circulating immune complexes (CICs) have been demonstrated in 50-60 % of clinical subjects with hydatidosis.l39 [18][19][20] . In most cases, the CICs contained the IgA class of immunoglobulins.19 Hydatid-specific CICs or circulating free antigen have been demonstrated in 85 % of cases of hydatidosisl3* 21 and circulating anti-hydatid antibodies have been shown to bind and form 67-kDa hydatid antigen CICs.…”

Relevant peptides of Taenia crassiceps for the diagnosis of bovine cysticercosis by immunoblot

“…However, in addition to the molecular weight of these bands, it is also important to verify their physical appearance (width) (Larralde et al, 1989;Tsang et al, 1989). The different staining intensities of the bands were probably due to variation of the amount of antibodies produced between hosts (Tsang et al, 1991).…”