Immunohistochemical study on the antigenicity of each organ structure of Clonorchis sinensis

An immunohistochemical study was performed to demonstrate comparative antigenicity of each body structure of the liver fluke, Clonorchis sinensis, such as the digestive tract, reproductive organs, excretory system, tegument and suckers. Indirect immunoperoxidase technique was applied, using formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded sections of C. sinensis as the antigen. Pooled cat sera obtained 10 weeks after an experimental infection with C. sinensis and peroxidase-conjugated goat anti-cat IgG were used as the primary and secondary antibodies, respectively. The intensity of immunohistochemical stain was very sensitive upon the titers of the primary and secondary antibodies, and their optimum dilutions were found to be 1:1,000-1:2,000 and 1:1,000, respectively. The intestinal epithelial cells, intestinal content and excretory bladder showed strong positive coloring reactions even at lower titer (1:2,000) of the primary antibody, whereas the uterine wall and eggs, vitelline glands, and male reproductive organs showed only weak positive reactions despite an increase in the antibody titer (1:1,000). On the other hand, the suckers, tegument, subtegumental cells and other parenchyma portions did not reveal any positive immunoperoxidase reaction at the same antibody titers. From the above results, it is highly suggested that the most potent antigenicity of C. sinensis occur from their excretory-secretory substances originated from the digestive and excretory organs.