Differentiation between Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma rangeli on the basis of their sialic acid content.

Four day-old culture forms of Trypanosoma rangeli strain San Augustin were tested with the following lectins: Canavalia ensiformis, Pisum sativum, Ricinus communis-120, Sojahispida, Aaptos papillata II, Triticum vulgaris, Limulus polyphemus, lberis amara and Arachis hypogaea. These flagellates were only agglutinated by the lectins from Canavalia ensiformis and Pisum sativum. Furthermore four day-old culture forms of the T. cruzi strains Morcego 1354, P-60, Téhuantépéc and WA 301/130 as well as the T. rangli strains San Augustin, Venezuela and DA-3412 were treated with neuraminidase and the supernatant examined by the Aminoff TBA assay. While the supernatant of the T. cruzi strains showed a red colour complex the supernatant of the T. rangeli strains was weak yellow-green. In contrast to the T. cruzi strains no N-acetylneuraminic acid was detectable on the cell surface of T. rangeli. Therefore the Aminoff test can be used for the differentiation between T. cruzi and T. rangeli.