Open AccessIdentification ofTrichomonas vaginalisα‐Actinin as the Most Common Immunogen Recognized by Sera of Women Exposed to the Parasite
Author(s) -
Maria Filippa Addis,
Paola Rappelli,
Ana Maria Pinto de Andrade,
Fatima Madeira Rita,
M. Colombo,
Piero Cappuccinelli,
Pier Luigi Fiori
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
the journal of infectious diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.69
H-Index - 252
eISSN - 1537-6613
pISSN - 0022-1899
DOI - 10.1086/315095
Subject(s) - immunogen , trichomonas vaginalis , serology , antibody , parasite hosting , antigen , biology , virology , immunology , asymptomatic , recombinant dna , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , monoclonal antibody , pathology , gene , genetics , world wide web , computer science
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.
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