title: Identification of Trichomonas vaginalis alpha-actinin as the most common immunogen recognized by sera of women exposed to the parasite.
abstract: A study on presence of antibodies to Trichomonis vaginalis in serum was done on a group of 500 pregnant, asymptomatic Angolan women. A serologic screening, done by ELISA, revealed that 41% of the women had IgG and IgM against the parasite. Analysis of sera by immunoblotting revealed that 94.4% of sera with anti-T. vaginalis IgG class antibodies were reactive against a common immunogenic protein of 115 kDa. The common immunogen was identified as the protozoan alpha-actinin. All sera recognizing the 115-kDa antigen were reactive against both native and recombinant T. vaginalis alpha-actinin and nonreactive against human alpha-actinin. The findings presented in this work offer a new tool for epidemiologic studies and open new perspectives for vaccination.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Division of Clinical and Experimental Microbiology, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Addis
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rappelli
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Pinto De Andrade
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Rita
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Colombo
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cappuccinelli
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Fiori
mesh_terms: D000185:Actinin / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology; D015153:Blotting, Western; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D015597:Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D014247:Trichomonas Vaginitis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D014246:Trichomonas vaginalis / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D000185:Actinin