ABSTRACT
A dot-blot enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (dot-blot ELISA) using an electroeluted 31-kDa glycoprotein from adult worms of Parastrongylus cantonensis as the specific antigen was evaluated for the immunological diagnosis of patients infected with P. cantonensis. The sensitivity and specificity for the detection of serum antibody to P. cantonensis in dot-blot ELISA were both 100%, as determined with serum samples of ten P. cantonensis-infected patients, 60 patients with other related parasitic infections, and 20 uninfected controls. The test was as sensitive and specific as the immunoblot test which revealed a reactive band of 31 kDa. Both the dot-blot ELISA and immunoblot detected all sera from ten P. cantonensis-infected individuals, but not with those of other heterologous parasitoses (gnathostomiasis, toxocariasis, filariasis, paragonimiasis, cysticercosis and malaria) or sera from healthy controls. The dot-blot ELISA is much simpler to perform than the immunoblot technique, and the test can be applied under field conditions where sophisticated facilities are lacking.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Helminth/blood , Strongyloidea , Strongyloidiasis/diagnosis , Animals , Case-Control Studies , Diagnosis, Differential , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay/methods , Humans , Immunoblotting/methods , Parasitic Diseases/diagnosis , Sensitivity and Specificity , Strongyloidea/immunologyABSTRACT
A 31-kDa glycoprotein antigen was purified by electrophoresing the crude extract of Parastrongylus cantonensis adult worms in a 12% SDS-polyacrylamide gel, identifying the 31-kDa component with prestained molecular weight standards, cutting the desired gel strip, and then isolating it by electroelution. Antigen fraction of 31 kDa was re-electrophoresed, transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane and found to be reactive with only the sera from patients with parastrongyliasis. No reactive band was observed with the sera from other related parasitic infections, eg, gnathostomiasis, toxocariasis, filariasis, paragonimiasis, cysticercosis and malaria, and the normal healthy control sera. This antigen fraction isolated showed 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity in the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of 31-kDa specific antibody in the sera from patients with parastrongyliasis. The P. cantonensis antigen of 31 kDa has been obtained by this means with a high degree of purity and applied successfully in conventional ELISA for the specific immunodiagnosis of human parastrongyliasis.
Subject(s)
Angiostrongylus cantonensis/isolation & purification , Antigens, Helminth/isolation & purification , Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel/methods , Strongylida Infections/diagnosis , Angiostrongylus cantonensis/immunology , Animals , Antibody Specificity , Antigens, Helminth/blood , Blotting, Western , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Strongylida Infections/blood , Strongylida Infections/immunology , ThailandABSTRACT
The first human case of Clinostomum lacramalitis in Thailand is reported. A 38-year-old man visited an ophthalmology clinic after having itchy pain in the right eye for two days. Ophthalmological examination revealed a living worm adhered to the lacramal opening and after removal, it was identified as Clinostomum sp. The patient admitted that he used to eat raw freshwater fish, he caught in Prachin Buri Province where he lives.
