title: Antibodies to basement membrane protein nidogen in Chagas' disease and American cutaneous leishmaniasis.
abstract: About 50 to 70% of sera from patients with American cutaneous leishmaniasis and chronic Chagas' disease possessed antibodies which reacted in enzyme and radioimmunoassays with nidogen obtained from a tumor basement membrane. The antibodies were of the immunoglobulin M and G classes in acute American cutaneous leishmaniasis but mainly of the immunoglobulin G class in chronic Chagas' disease. Similar antibodies could not be detected in patients suffering from a variety of other infectious or inflammatory diseases when compared with healthy control groups. Inhibition and immunoadsorption studies indicated a close relationship of epitopes recognized by patients' antibodies on nidogen and on another basement membrane protein, laminin. Since rabbit antisera to both proteins do not cross-react, a special nature of the epitopes involved in the reaction with patient sera is suggested. Similar epitopes may exist on various forms of Leishmania or Trypanosoma protozoa.
mesh_terms: D000906:Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D001485:Basement Membrane; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000276:immunology*; D000939:Epitopes; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000032:analysis; D007797:Laminin / Q000276:immunology; D007892:Leishmania braziliensis / Q000276:immunology; D007894:Leishmania mexicana / Q000276:immunology; D007896:Leishmaniasis / Q000276:immunology*; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D000939:Epitopes; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D007797:Laminin; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C029967:nidogen