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Bancroftian filariasis‐differential reactivity of anti‐sheath antibodies in microfilariae carriers
Author(s) -
RAVINDRAN B.,
SATAPATHY A. K.,
SAHOO P. K.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
parasite immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.795
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1365-3024
pISSN - 0141-9838
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3024.1994.tb00355.x
Subject(s) - wuchereria bancrofti , filariasis , bancroftian filariasis , antibody , biology , antigen , microfilaria , immunology , elephantiasis , helminths
SUMMARY Anti‐sheath antibodies have been detected using an immunofluorescent assay (IFAT) in the sera of microfilariae carriers (AS cases) residing in areas endemic for Bancroftian filariasis. Microfilariae (mf) of Wuchereria bancrofti purified from five different mf carriers were used separately as antigen to identify anti‐sheath antibodies. The reactivity of sera from AS cases to mf sheath was found to be variable to the five different mf preparations. While as high as 25% of the sera reacted with mf purified from one individual, none of them reacted with mf purified from two other individuals. Such a differential reactivity to the sheath was found to be a feature of antibodies in AS cases only. Sera of seven amicrofilaraemic patients with elephantiasis reacted uniformly with all five mf preparations. The possible existence of polymorphic antigen (s) on the sheath of W. bancrofti mf has been proposed.