[Analysis of Pagumogonimus skrjabini antigen and its application in serodiagnosis]

To analyse the soluble antigens of different developmental stages of Pagumogonimus skrjabini and develop a specific and sensitive serodiagnostic method for pagumogonimiasis.

The soluble antigens of P. skrjabini of various stages were separated by SDS-PAGE. The specific antigen of the adult fluke was recognized immunologically by immunoblot assay. The protein bands between 10-30 kDa purified by SDS-PAGE and electrophoretic elution were used in dot-ELISA.

Using dot-ELISA, the soluble antigens of adult were recognized by sera infected with P. skrjabini. More reactive bands appeared at 10-30 kDa, but major protein bands were at 22, 24 and 26 kDa. However, using sera from patients infected with other trematodes including schistosome and Clonorchis, cross-reaction bands appeared within 60 to 90 kDa. When compared with ELISA of crude adult antigens for detecting 28 suspected patients, there was no significant difference between the two methods. The sera of 38 patients with other diseases were also detected by the two tests. No cross-reaction occurred with the purified adult antigen dot-ELISA while 13.2% (5/38) of the sera cross-reacted in ELISA of crude adult antigens.

Dot-ELISA using 10-30 kDa antigen might be a specific and sensitive serodiagnostic method for diagnoing pagumogonimiasis.