The allergens of Schistosoma mansoni. II. Further separation by sephadex G-200 and ion-exchange chromatography.

A total of thirty-five antigen fractions were prepared from adult Schistosoma mansoni by extraction into borate-buffered saline, precipitation at pH 4-6, gel-filtration on Sephadex G-100 and G-200, and ion-exchange chromatography on CM- and DEAE-cellulose. The allergic activity of these antigens was assayed by a modified Prausnitz-Küstner (P-K) type reaction in rats. The results showed that the allergen-reagin axis in rat schistosomiasis is a multicomponent system involving molecules of widely different chemical nature and molecular weight, rather than a simple, single antigen-antibody interaction. The significance of these findings to the use of purified antigens for the diagnosis of schistosomiasis in the field is discussed.