Utility of Schistosoma bovis adult worm antigens for diagnosis of human schistosomiasis by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and electroimmunotransfer blot techniques.

Immunodiagnostic methods based on the detection of antibodies continue to be the most effective and practical methods for the diagnosis of imported schistosomiasis. Schistosoma bovis is a species whose final natural hosts are bovines, ovines, caprines, and small wild ruminants. Different studies have demonstrated the analogies existing between S. bovis and other Schistosoma species which affect humans. The objective of this work was to evaluate the utility of S. bovis adult worm antigens (AWA) for the diagnosis of imported human schistosomiasis by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and electroimmunotransfer blotting (EITB) techniques. By detecting eggs, the ELISA for S. bovis AWA was able to definitively detect imported cases with a sensitivity of 94%. The specificity of the ELISA for S. bovis AWA was 97%. There were no differences between the results of the S. bovis AWA ELISA for patients infected with Schistosoma mansoni and those infected with Schistosoma haematobium. The EITB technique showed bands of 85, 37, and 20 kDa, which are characteristic of infections with Schistosoma spp. Specific bands to indicate infection by different species of Schistosoma have not been detected. The combined use of the ELISA for S. bovis AWA and EITB increased the global sensitivity of the study to 97%. Our findings suggest that the ELISA for S. bovis AWA is a useful test for the immunodiagnosis of imported schistosomiasis and that EITB for detecting S. bovis AWA permits the confirmation of diagnosis when the ELISA for S. bovis AWA is positive.