Mwangi Jamleck N, Ozwara Hastings S, Motiso Joshua M, Gicheru Michael M
Department of Zoological sciences, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya.
Department of Tropical and Infectious Diseases, Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2015 Mar 20;9(3):e0003517. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003517. eCollection 2015 Mar.
Tunga penetrans are fleas that cause tungiasis, a condition characterized by high transmission rate due to poor housing conditions, social neglect and inadequate health care in economically disadvantaged communities in developing countries. This study therefore aimed at characterizing jiggers antigens to identify immunodominant ones to help understand immunological behavior of the parasite that would otherwise be important in future control of the parasite. Samples were gravid fleas and blood samples from infested individuals in Kahuro and Murang'a East district in Murang'a County. Freeze and thaw was used to extract soluble proteins from the fleas. Ouchterlony Double immunodiffusion was used to assess antigen-antibody reactions between extracted soluble protein and the serum from immunized rats, Rattus norvegicus prior to analysis of human sera. These results were comparable to results of immunoelectrphoresis. Jigger protein isolates were analyzed in Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis technique (SDS-PAGE), against Pharmacia standard protein markers. Further analysis of jigger antigens against pooled human sera from infested victims in Western blot revealed three immunodominant antigens. Using simple regression analysis molecular weights of the three immunodominant antigens were estimated as 51.795, 23.395 and 15.38 kDa respectively. These results are important since they would help understand immunological behavior of the parasites. This would help to create basis for designing and improving approaches against jiggers such as development of immune prophylaxis to complement social science approaches that is mainly concerned with maintenance of high standards of hygiene.
穿皮潜蚤是一种会导致潜蚤病的跳蚤，在发展中国家经济条件较差的社区，由于居住条件差、社会忽视以及医疗保健不足，这种疾病具有很高的传播率。因此，本研究旨在对沙蚤抗原进行表征，以识别免疫显性抗原，从而有助于了解该寄生虫的免疫行为，这对于未来控制该寄生虫至关重要。样本包括卡胡罗和穆朗加县穆朗加东区受感染个体身上的妊娠蚤和血液样本。采用冻融法从跳蚤中提取可溶性蛋白质。在分析人血清之前，使用双向免疫扩散法评估提取的可溶性蛋白质与免疫大鼠褐家鼠血清之间的抗原 - 抗体反应。这些结果与免疫电泳结果相当。沙蚤蛋白质分离物在十二烷基硫酸钠聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳技术（SDS - PAGE）中与法玛西亚标准蛋白质标志物进行分析。在蛋白质印迹法中，针对来自受感染受害者的混合人血清对沙蚤抗原进行进一步分析，发现了三种免疫显性抗原。通过简单回归分析，这三种免疫显性抗原的分子量分别估计为51.795、23.395和15.38 kDa。这些结果很重要，因为它们将有助于了解寄生虫的免疫行为。这将有助于为设计和改进针对沙蚤的方法奠定基础，例如开发免疫预防措施，以补充主要关注维持高标准卫生的社会科学方法。
