An evaluation of the role of carbohydrate epitopes in immunity to Trichinella spiralis.

A study is described in which the role of carbohydrate epitopes in the generation of protective immunity to Trichinella spiralis was investigated. Antigen preparations were treated with increasing molar concentrations of sodium periodate, which is known to degrade carbohydrate moieties by cleaving one side of the hexose ring, and a suitable protocol was established for the selective degradation of carbohydrates with the retention of protein integrity. Using excretory/secretory (ES) proteins, both sodium periodate treated and in their native form, vaccination experiments have shown that sodium periodate treated antigens are as effective as native ES proteins in the generation of both active and passive immunity. This indicates that peptide epitopes alone can induce protective immunity to T. spiralis.