Presence of IgM antibodies to Trypanosoma cruzi urinary antigen in sera from patients with acute Chagas' disease.

An 80-kilodalton Trypanosoma cruzi antigen is eliminated in the urine of infected hosts during the acute stage of Chagas' disease. We show that affinity-purified urinary antigen is recognised by IgM antibodies in the sera from acute chagasic patients. Comparing our urinary antigen assay with that using a whole T. cruzi lysate antigen for IgM antibody detection, we demonstrated that ELISA with urinary antigen increases the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of IgM serology in recent chagasic infection. Twenty-six of 30 patients with acute T. cruzi infection had serum IgM antibodies that reacted with urinary antigen by ELISA, while lysate antigen IgM was detected in 24 sera. When sera from patients suffering other parasitoses were tested, strong cross-reactions occurred in ELISA with T. cruzi lysate antigen, whereas ELISA with urinary antigen proved to better discriminate acute chagasic patients. Human antibodies to urinary antigen immunoprecipitated this T. cruzi urinary antigen and also inhibited the binding of monoclonal antibody to urinary antigen in an inhibition assay. These findings suggest that urinary antigen may be useful for the development of serodiagnostic procedures for acute T. cruzi infection.

Trypanosoma cruzi: cloning and expression of an antigen recognized by acute and chronic human chagasic sera.

Here we describe the characterization of a Trypanosoma cruzi DNA sequence (clone A13) that codes for a polypeptide recognized by IgM and IgG antibodies from sera of acute and congenital chagasic patients. Antibodies to A13 antigen are also detected in the sera of chronic patients with different clinical forms of Chagas' disease, but not in sera of patients with leishmaniasis or other parasitic diseases. The antigenic determinants encoded by clone A13 are found in amastigotes and trypomastigotes of several T. cruzi strains, but not in the noninfective epimastigotes. The DNA sequence of the recombinant clone reveals one open reading frame encoding 251 amino acids without tandemly repeated sequences. Our data suggest that the A13 antigen may be useful for the development of serodiagnostic procedures.

Purification and characterization of an 80-kilodalton Trypanosoma cruzi urinary antigen.

A Trypanosoma cruzi antigen eliminated in the urine of experimentally infected dogs was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay between 9 and 28 days after infection. The parasite urinary antigen (UAg) was purified by affinity chromatography with polyclonal antibodies to T. cruzi. The eluate of the antibody column was subjected to high-performance liquid chromatography and showed a single peak of A280. This antigen was the only parasite component found in the urine of infected dogs during the course of acute T. cruzi infection. Antigen characterization was performed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, lectin affinity chromatography, proteolytic digestion, and Western blotting (immunoblotting). The isolated UAg exhibited a relative molecular size of 80 kilodaltons (kDa), an isoelectric point of 6.2 to 6.8, binding to concanavalin A, and sensitivity to trypsin. The parasite antigen was electroeluted from polyacrylamide gels and subjected to acid hydrolysis and amino acid analysis by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The 80-kDa glycoprotein was recognized by serum antibodies from a wide variety of T. cruzi-infected hosts. The UAg proved to be a highly antigenic component present in different strains of T. cruzi. This 80-kDa polypeptide resembles one of the parasite antigens previously found in the urine of patients with acute Chagas' disease.

Antigenuria in infants with acute and congenital Chagas' disease.

Detection and partial characterization of Trypanosoma cruzi soluble antigens (SAg) in urine, as well as demonstration of parasite circulating antigens (CAg) in serum from pediatric patients with acute (10 patients) and congenital (10 patients) Chagas' disease, are reported. Classical techniques for parasite detection and antibody serology were also conducted in both groups. Samples collected before the onset of parasiticidal drug treatment were tested by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for SAg and CAg demonstration. The control population consisted of 6 children with acute toxoplasmosis, 6 with cutaneous leishmaniasis, and 20 healthy individuals. Patients with acute cases were 100% positive for both SAg and CAg, whereas patients with congenital disease were 80% CAg positive and 100% SAg positive. Controls yielded negative results in all cases. Partial characterization of SAg from two patients with acute disease was performed by iodination, affinity chromatography, immunoprecipitation, and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Two different antigenic glycoproteins (80 kilodaltons, pI 6 to 6.5 and 55 kilodaltons, pI 6.5 to 7) were identified by these methods. Traditional serology and classical parasitologic tests failed, each in a different way, to provide an accurate diagnosis in the total of our patients. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for SAg detection proved to be the most effective procedure for achieving early and precise proof of infection in acute and congenital cases of Chagas' disease.