title: Anti-laminin and specific antibodies in acute Chagas disease.
abstract: A striking increase of anti-laminin antibodies contrasting with low levels of anti-Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in sera of 16 patients at the acute phase of Chagas disease. The mean absorbancies using an anti-human IgG conjugate were 6563 and 202 for laminin and T. cruzi antigens, respectively; with anti-IgM conjugate the titres were 3442 and 207, respectively. In addition, indirect immunofluorescence tests performed with trypomastigotes from blood or cell cultures have shown extremely high titres (up to 1:10 240), which declined when mouse laminin-absorbed sera were used instead, apparently confirming the presence of laminin in the surface membrane of the parasites. These results support the view that the high anti-laminin titres found in patients with Chagas disease are induced by the newly described galactosyl-alpha 1-3-galactose epitope present in T. cruzi trypomastigotes and shared by mouse laminin.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, FIOCRUZ, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gazzinelli
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Galvão
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Dias
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gazzinelli
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Brener
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000276:immunology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000276:immunology; D007797:Laminin / Q000276:immunology*; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D001323:Autoantibodies; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D007797:Laminin