Secretory hydrolases of Trichomonas vaginalis

Supernatants of three Trichomonas vaginalis strains obtained from culture or after contact and cultivation with WISH cells were assayed to characterize the nature of the factor/s responsible for the cytotoxic activity on WISH cell monolayers. This factor, mainly secreted from the live, exponentially grown parasite, with a molecular weight higher than 10,000 daltons and heat-unstable, does not appear to be a protease. In its place, we demonstrated that the presence of some hydrolases (particularly acid phosphatase and beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase) was related to the cytotoxic activity of T. vaginalis strains. Hence, some hydrolytic enzymes may indicate the pathogenetic role of a T. vaginalis strain.