Comparative serological reactivity of Taenia crassiceps, Taenia solium and Taenia saginata metacestode neutral glycolipids to infection serum from Taenia crassiceps-infected mice.

A comparative survey was undertaken of the neutral fraction glycolipids from the metacestodes of 3 taeniid species, Taenia crassiceps, Taenia solium and Taenia saginata, to determine their chemical and serological staining patterns on separation by thin-layer chromatography. The orcinol-positive patterns of T. solium and T. saginata metacestodes exhibited a closer superficial resemblance to each other than to T. crassiceps or T. saginata adults. A comparison of component migration properties against standards of known structure indicated the main oligosaccharide chains to be mono-, di-, tri- and tetrasaccharides; however, in T. solium this was extended to at least a heptasaccharide. The multiple banding characteristic of each component is a consequence of lipid moiety heterogeneity. Serologically, the patterns of the 3 taeniid species neutral fraction glycolipids showed virtually the same immunological reactivity towards mouse normal serum, infection serum and a monospecific, polyclonal antibody directed against the trisaccharide component of T. crassiceps. The latter antibody was isolated from mouse infection serum by affinity chromatography on a column of glycolipid-bound octyl-Sepharose CL-4B. Immunochemically, the major common epitope expressed by the neutral fraction glycolipids of the 3 taeniid species is the same or very similar to the glycosphingolipid, neogalatriaosyl ceramide derived from the marine mollusc Turbo cornutus (Gal(beta 1-6) Gal(beta 1-6) Gal(beta 1-1)Cer). Host tissue neutral fraction glycolipids, porcine muscle and bovine muscle, as well as human spleen, were not immunoreactive.