The measurement of antigens released by radiation-attenuated Trichinella spiralis larvae.
A radioimmunoassay has been developed that uses antisera raised to different excretory-secretory antigens of infective larvae of Trichinella spiralis (LESA) to measure accurately the output of these antigens following gamma irradiation at doses from 10 to 120 Krads. In the lower range (up to 20 Krads) irradiation results in the increased export of antigens to the culture supernatant in a subsequent 3 h period, without obvious or gross damage to the worms. Higher doses (greater than 40 Krads) suppress antigen release over the same period compared with the activity of untreated (control) cultures. This work makes two contributions. It describes a sensitive assay system which detects and measures parasite antigens that may be important both in protection and in serodiagnosis, and it offers for the first time an explanation for the special properties of the lower dose range larval irradiation-attenuated vaccine in inducing a high degree of reinfection resistance, as reported in older literature and recently confirmed by us.
D000818:Animals; D000941:Antigens / Q000032:analysis*; D001667:Binding, Competitive; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D005720:Gamma Rays; D007814:Larva / Q000276:immunology; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D014234:Trichinella / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology* / Q000528:radiation effects
D000941:Antigens