Evaluation and Characterization of Fasciola hepatica Tegument Protein Extract for Serodiagnosis of Human Fascioliasis

Tegument protein extract from Fasciola hepatica adult flukes (FhTA) was obtained and assessed for its potential as a diagnostic agent for the serological detection of human fascioliasis using an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In an analysis of sera from 45 patients infected with F. hepatica, sera from 41 patients with other parasitic infections, and sera from 33 healthy controls, the FhTA-ELISA showed sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 91.1%, 97.3%, and 95%, respectively. Specific IgG1 and IgG4 were the antibody isotypes mainly detected in sera from patients with fascioliasis. Polypeptides of 52, 38, 24 to 26, and 12 to 14 kDa were identified byWestern blotting as the most immunoreactive components of the FhTA. A proteomic ap-proach led us to identify enolase, aldolase, glutathione S-transferase, and fatty acid binding protein as the major immunoreac-tive components of the FhTA. Fasciolasis is a major parasitic disease of livestock and humanscaused by infection with either Fasciola hepatica or Fasciola gigantica. Both trematodes have a worldwide distribution, but F. hepatica predominates in temperate zones while F. gigantica is found mainly in tropical regions (39). Fascioliasis has great eco-nomic impact on the animal husbandry industry worldwide due to the enormous losses that it causes, which have been estimated at more than 3 billion dollars per year (55). In addition, the Worl