title: Potential immunological markers for diagnosis and therapeutic assessment of toxocariasis.
abstract: In human toxocariasis, there are few approaches using immunological markers for diagnosis and therapeutic assessment. An immunoblot (IB) assay using excretory-secretory Toxocara canis antigen was standardized for monitoring IgG, IgE and IgA antibodies in 27 children with toxocariasis (23 visceral, three mixed visceral and ocular, and one ocular form) for 22-116 months after chemotherapy. IB sensitivity was 100% for IgG antibodies to bands of molecular weight 29-38, 48-54, 95-116, 121-162, >205 kDa, 80.8% for IgE to 29-38, 48-54, 95-121, > 205 kDa, and 65.4% for IgA to 29-38, 48-54, 81-93 kDa. Candidates for diagnostic markers should be IgG antibodies to bands of low molecular weight (29-38 and 48-54 kDa). One group of patients presented the same antibody reactivity to all bands throughout the follow-up study; in the other group, antibodies decayed partially or completely to some or all bands, but these changes were not correlated with time after chemotherapy. Candidates for monitoring patients after chemotherapy may be IgG antibodies to > 205 kDa fractions, IgA to 29-38, 48-54, 81-93 kDa and IgE to 95-121 kDa. Further identification of antigen epitopes related to these markers will allow the development of sensitive and specific immunoassays for the diagnosis and therapeutic assessment of toxocariasis.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Soroepidemiologia e Imunobiologia, Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil. guitare@usp.br
authors.forename: Guita
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rubinsky-Elefant
authors.forename: Sumie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hoshino-Shimizu
authors.forename: Cristina Miuki Abe
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Jacob
authors.forename: Maria Carmen Arroyo
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Sanchez
authors.forename: Antonio Walter
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Ferreira
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000871:Anthelmintics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000909:Antibodies, Helminth / Q000097:blood*; D000947:Antigens, Helminth; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015801:Helminth Proteins; D006801:Humans; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000097:blood*; D007223:Infant; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013827:Thiabendazole / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017166:Toxocara canis / Q000276:immunology*; D014120:Toxocariasis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D000871:Anthelmintics; D000909:Antibodies, Helminth; D000947:Antigens, Helminth; D015415:Biomarkers; D015801:Helminth Proteins; D007136:Immunoglobulins; C045159:TES-26 protein, Toxocara canis; D013827:Thiabendazole