Analysis by immunoblotting of Toxoplasma gondii exo-antigens and comparison with somatic antigens.

Two soluble Toxoplasma gondii antigen preparations were compared using the immunoblotting technique. The first preparation, which is commonly employed in ELISA tests, corresponds to a lytic extract of the parasite. The second known as exo-antigen, has yielded good results in cell immunity research and is obtained from Toxoplasma gondii culture supernatants. In both preparations, components exhibiting same molecular weight of 57-52 (doublet), 43, 38, 35, 30 and 20 kDa were revealed. In addition, two major 27- and 78-kDa components were detected in exo-antigens. The 30 kDa protein was intensely recognised by all sera, confirming the advantage of its use as an antigen in serological reactions. Exo-antigens could be employed as a soluble antigenic solution because they are easy to obtain, they display good antigenicity and their antigenic composition has been defined. Moreover their preparation does not require mouse inoculation. An evaluation of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) involving these antigens has yet to be performed.