title: Serological reactivity of patients with Echinococcus infections  (E. granulosus, E. vogeli, and E. multilocularis)  against three antigen B subunits.
abstract: In serodiagnosis of cystic echinococcosis (CE) by Echinococcus granulosus infection, antigen B (AgB) has been utilized worldwide. However, it is known that about 40% of sera with alveolar echinococcosis (AE) by Echinococcus multilocularis infection recognize AgB. Furthermore, cross-reaction against AgB was also reported in sera from polycystic echinococcosis (PE) patients with Echinococcus vogeli infection. These findings indicate that AgB is widely common to the genus Echinococcus. On the other hand, AgB has several subunits, which are composed of the smallest 8-kDa subunit. In this study, reactivities of patient sera with three kinds of Echinococcus infections (CE, PE, and AE) were compared simultaneously under the same condition against three subunits of AgB (8, 16, and 24 kDa). Many articles have referred the fundamental 8- kDa subunit as a diagnostic antigen for CE. However, the reactivity for the 8-kDa subunit of the CE patient was not so high (47.7%) in this study. Furthermore, there are many cases in which serum of patients with PE or AE also recognizes this subunit (66.7% in PE; 45.9% in AE). AgB is effective for the detection of the genus Echinococcus infections, but it does not have high species specificity. Therefore, we need to pay attention to cross-reaction in serodiagnosis of CE in areas where plural species coexist.
authors.affiliation: Microbiology and Parasitology Department, Federal University of S. Maria, Av. Roraima, 1000, S. Maria, RS, Brazil 97.105-900. mldelarue@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Mário L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: de la Rue
authors.forename: Kimiaki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamano
authors.forename: Cybele E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: Margarete P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Iesbich
authors.forename: Cloé D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.forename: Hirokazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kouguchi
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takahashi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000909:Antibodies, Helminth / Q000097:blood*; D003429:Cross Reactions; D004443:Echinococcosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D048209:Echinococcus granulosus / Q000276:immunology; D048210:Echinococcus multilocularis / Q000276:immunology; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000276:immunology*; D021122:Protein Subunits / Q000276:immunology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000909:Antibodies, Helminth; D015801:Helminth Proteins; D008074:Lipoproteins; D021122:Protein Subunits; C089273:antigen B, Echinococcus