Reactivity of Anti-Gp43 Antibodies From Paracoccidioides Brasiliensis Antiserum With Extracts From Cutaneous Lesions of Lobo's Disease: Preliminary Note

Abstract

We demonstrated through several immunochemical tests the presence of gp43 from P. brasiliensis in extracts of cutaneous lesions from Jorge Lobo's disease. This glicoprotein is one of the immunodominant antigens in this species, and is used to identify it. The demonstration of gp43 tissues infected by the agent of Jorge Lobo's disease is an additional evidence for classifying it in the genera Paracoccidioides, species loboi.

Use of Sera from Humans and Dolphins with Lacaziosis and Sera from Experimentally Infected Mice for Western Blot Analyses of Lacazia loboi Antigens

“…In contrast to previous serological reports (1,23,30), this study suggests that during infection, L. loboi presents immunogens to the immune system which are different from that in P. brasiliensis infection. The molecular characterization of these antigens, especially the ϳ193-kDa immunodominant antigen, could generate valuable information to better understand the immunology and serology of L. loboi infection and possibly aid in the development of new therapies for infections caused by this resilient fungal pathogen.…”

“…However, the serum from the patient with paracoccidioidomycosis did detect an antigen with a similar molecular mass. The cross-reactive antigens reported in this study, including purified gp43 and those reported by other investigators (1,6,15,21,24,26,30), were not unexpected, since recent molecular studies have shown that both L. loboi and P. brasiliensis share the same ancestor (13,18,31).…”

“…This resemblance was used by some investigators to classify this pathogen in the genus Paracoccidioides (1,6,8). Thus, due to L. loboi's inability to grow in culture, immunological studies have traditionally been carried out with antigens extracted from mycelial cultures of P. brasiliensis (15,17,21,(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)30). The objective of our study was to characterize the immunogenic proteins extracted from L. loboi yeast-like cells in Western blotting analyses, using sera from humans and dolphins with lacaziosis and sera from experimentally infected mice.…”

“…With the exception of three previous studies (1,23,30), in the past 75 years L. loboi immunological research has been carried out using antigens of P. brasiliensis (6,8,15,17,21,24,26,27,32). Our study showed that patients with lacaziosis possessed antibodies not only against the gp43 antigen of P. brasiliensis but mainly against an ϳ193-kDa immunodominant L. loboi antigen.…”

Nutritional status and immune response in murine experimental Jorge Lobo's disease

“…In Jorge Lobo's disease the most of the studies on the humoral immune response have used Paracoccidioides brasiliensis antigens and have revealed antigenic cross-reactivity between this fungus and L. loboi [34][35][36] . More recently, Mendoza et al [37] showed that patients with Jorge Lobo's disease possessed antibodies not only against the gp43 antigen of P. brasiliensis but mainly against a~193-kDa immunodominant L. loboi antigen.…”