Specific diagnostics antigens of Fasciola hepatica detected by western blot

A western blot assay was performed for the detection of Fasciola hepatica specific antigens for the diagnostic of fasciolasis; 72 sera were tested, 28 coming from patients with the parasitic disease and 44 from persons either healthy or presenting other diseases; 11 different antigenic bands were detected using sera from patients with fasciolasis. The 57 and 29 kDa specific antigens are considered like major, their specificity is about 100 % and their respective sensibility, 79 and 93 %. Band of 9-12 kDa is also appeared specific but is revealed only in 47 % of the cases; 27 out of the 28 sera from patients with fasciolasis were able to recognize at least one of the 57, 29 or 9-12 kDa specific antigens. The present results suggest that western blot could be useful for the diagnosis of this parasitic disease as far as the criteria of positivity is based on the recognition of at least one of the major specific antigens.