Abstract:
A universal vaccine which protects against both
Schistosoma ma11s011i and japonicum infections is not available
although it is highly desirable. This study addresses the need
to identify cross-reactive antigens between the two schistosome
species. This is the first step towards identification of cross reactive
antigens which may potentially contribute to a
universal schistosome vaccine in the future.
In this study, the cross reactivity of S. mansoni antigens
with S. japonicum infection sera were tested using the enzyme
linked immunosorbent assay. Four S. manosni antigens,
namely PB 1, PB2, P28 and P30 were tested with S. japonicum
mouse, rabbit and human infection sera. Based on the graph
and the statistical analysis using a student t-test, PB2 and P30
elicited a positive cross reaction. Between the two, PB2
exhibited greater cross reactivity. This data suggests that the
S. mansoni antigens PB2 and P30 may be potential universal
vaccine candidates.
Future work should focus on determining whether S.
mansoni antigen PB2 and P30 can protect mice against
challenge infection with S. japonicum cercariae.
