Immunoreactive proteins in Taenia solium/Cysticercus cellulosae

Abstract: Helminthic infections are highly endemic in Mozambique, due to limited access to healthcare and resources for disease prevention. Data on the subclinical prevalence of these diseases are scarce due to the fact that an immunological and imaging diagnosis is not often available in endemic areas. The diagnosis of neurocysticercosis (NCC) requires expensive neuroimaging techniques that are seldom affordable for people in endemic countries. Commercial antigens used to diagnose human neurocysticercosis are obtained from either a soluble parasite extract or a parasite-derived glycoprotein fraction. The aim of the present study was to identify antigenic proteins as potential diagnostic candidates in Mozambique and to evaluate these proteins. Soluble proteins from Taenia solium cysticerci were separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis and blotted onto nitrocellulose membranes. Subtracted hybridization was performed with serum samples obtained from patients with neurocysticercosis (NCC) and from a NCC-negative control group. Six antigenic proteins were identified and partially characterized. The protein, Tsol-p27 was chosen as the main candidate to use in a diagnostic assay and therefore further characterized and evaluated. Despite the limited number of serum samples evaluated, the results suggest that Tsol-p27 can be a suitable candidate for diagnosis of human NCC and porcine cysticercosis, not only in sub-Saharan Africa but also in Central America.In the collection of control sera a prevalence study was also performed. In this study patients positive with the HIV virus demonstrated a seroprevalence of 10.2% for cysticercosis, 23% for schistosomiasis, 7.3% for toxocariasis and 17.3% for echinococcosis.