Use of excretory/secretory antigens for the serodiagnosis of Anoplocephala perfoliata cestodosis

Abstract

Whole worm extract (WWE) and excretory/secretory (E/S) antigens of Anoplocephala perfoliata were characterised by SDS-PAGE and their use in the serodiagnosis of equine cestodosis was evaluated. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to compare WWE and E/S antigen as the capture layer in an antibody capture ELISA. E/S antigen gave the best differentiation between sera from tapeworm-positive and tapeworm-negative horses. The E/S-ELISA was optimised and validated against sera from horses of known tapeworm status. This assay gave a diagnostic sensitivity of 68% (n = 38) and a specificity in helminth-naive horses of 95% (n = 20). Western blot analysis of tapeworm-positive and tapeworm-negative sera revealed the immunoreactive proteins of E/S antigen to be those of 12 and 13 kDa.