Echinococcus granulosus: the potential use of specific radiolabelled antibodies in diagnosis by immunoscintigraphy

Diagnosis of hydatid disease in man is frequently dependent on the imaging of cysts in situ by techniques such as ultrasonography and CAT scans. Such methods are useful but are not specific and can lead to errors in diagnosis. The present work reports preliminary experiments on the development of a specific imaging technique for hydatid cysts using radiolabelled antibodies. A purified preparation of antigen B of hydatid fluid was used to raise polyclonal antisera in rabbits and the resulting affinity-purified IgG labelled with 131I. Gerbils with an established Echinococcus granulosus infection were injected intraperitoneally with the labelled antibody and imaged 48 h later with a gamma camera. Hydatid cysts could be identified within the peritoneal cavity and post-mortem assessment of activity showed the cysts to contain approximately four times as much activity as the surrounding organs thereby indicating successful targeting of the antibody to the cysts.