Detection of Circulating Antigen by Monoclonal Antibodies for Immunodiagnosis of Angiostrongyliasis

Abstract

Two monoclonal antibodies, which recognize the epitope on an antigen with a molecular weight of 204 kD from the fifth-stage worm of Angiostrongylus cantonensis, were previously prepared and used to detect circulating antigens in patients with eosinophilic meningitis or meningoencephalitis and in mice experimentally infected with this parasite by a double-antibody, sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The levels of this circulating antigen in experimentally infected mice were significantly higher three weeks after infection. The ELISA values in the detection of circulating antigens in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from patients were markedly higher than those in serum. Immunodiagnosis of patients with angiostrongyliasis by this technique proved to be highly specific for circulating antigens in serum and CSF specimens; however, the sensitivity in CSF was significantly higher than in serum.

Immuno-PCR for Detection of Antigen to Angiostrongylus cantonensis Circulating Fifth-Stage Worms

“…A sandwich ELISA using these mAbs for detection of circulating antigen in the serum of patients achieved high specificity (100%). However, the sensitivity, only 81%, was problematic (19 ).…”

“…In an immunoprecipitation analysis, a 204-kDa AcL 5 antigen could be detected by circulating antibodies in the serum of rats in early stages of experimental infestation (35 ). Indeed, two mAbs recognizing this antigen have been prepared previously (36 ) and have been applied for detection of circulating antigen in patients (19 ). A sandwich ELISA using these mAbs for detection of circulating antigen in the serum of patients achieved high specificity (100%).…”

“…The purification of these antigens, typically accomplished by column chromatography, is a time-consuming process because crude antigens typically require passage through several columns to appropriately prepare them for immunodiagnostic use. In another approach, specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against antigens of the AcL 3 or AcL 5 larval stages of A. cantonensis have been prepared and used to detect circulating antigen in a double-antibody sandwich ELISA (18,19 ). The specificity of this method is high, but the detection sensitivity remains unsuitably low.…”

Eosinophilic Meningitis Due toAngiostrongylus cantonensisin a Returned Traveler: Case Report and Review of the Literature

“…Nuamtanong [22] found that the reaction of serum antibodies to the 31-kDa antigen of A. cantonensis provided a more specific immunodiagnosis of angiostrongyliasis, and this was the technique used for confirming infection in our patient. The application of monoclonal antibody technology has recently been proposed for the detection of specific A. cantonensis antigens in serum and CSF specimens [23]. Further studies need to be done to confirm the suitability of this method in the identification of A. cantonensis infection.…”

Eosinophilic meningitis caused by Angiostrongylus cantonensis: an emergent disease in Brazil

“…In enzyme-linked fluorescent assays, the antibody detected the 91-kDa component in serum and CSF samples from infected patients with 88% sensitivity (Shih & Chen 1991). In the same way, Chye et al (1997) developed a monoclonal antibody that detects an antigen with a molecular weight of 204-kDa from L5 juveniles. This antibody showed greater sensitivity in CSF samples rather than serum samples.…”