IgE responses in human filariasis. III. Specificities of IgE and IgG antibodies compared by immunoblot analysis.

IgE and IgG immune responses were qualitatively characterized in three well-defined groups of patients with different clinical manifestations of lymphatic filariasis caused by infection with Wuchereria bancrofti; viz. tropical pulmonary eosinophilia (TPE), chronic lymphatic obstruction with elephantiasis (CP), and asymptomatic microfilaremia (MF). A complex filarial antigen preparation extracted from adult filarial parasites was separated on SDS-polyacrylamide gels, and was electrophoretically transferred to nitrocellulose paper before being incubated with individual sera and being probed with radiolabeled anti-IgE or protein A. Three clinical groups of patients showed distinct patterns of antigen recognition by both IgE and IgG antibodies, with TPE patients showing the most diverse patterns and microfilaremic individuals the most restricted responses for both antibody isotypes. "Dual recognition" of antigens by IgE and IgG antibodies seemed to be the rule rather than the exception for each individual's immune response to the parasite antigens, but the relative magnitudes of IgG and IgE responses differed among the three groups. The ratio of IgG to IgE antibody was generally greater in patients with MF and CP than in those with TPE. These findings of the comparative specificities and relative abundance of IgE and IgG antibodies in infected patients may have fundamental importance in explaining the clinical expression (especially allergic reactivity) and disease pathogenesis of human filarial infections.