Identification of the Schistosoma haematobium soluble egg antigens inducing antibody production and/or T cell proliferation in humans.

Soluble antigens were prepared from Schistosoma haematobium eggs collected from urine of 6-16 year-old children with urinary schistosomiasis. The electrophoretic profile of the soluble egg antigen (SEAH) preparation was almost identical to that (SEAh) obtained from UNDP/World Bank/WHO, Switzerland and prepared from S. haematobium eggs retrieved from intestines of infected hamsters. Reactivity of 50 individual patients with S. haematobium in Western blots led to the identification of the SEA protein bands carrying human B cell epitopes. Some, but not all, of these SEA proteins initiated peripheral blood T lymphocyte proliferation in T cell Western assays. These antigens are probably the ones inducing granulomatous response in vivo, and that are responsible for the immunopathology of the disease.