An evaluation of the sensitivity and the specificity of
the
Anisakis
simplex
antigens purified by affinity chromatography was
performed using sera from patients diagnosed with
Anisakis sensitisation
and sera from patients previously diagnosed with different helminthic infections.
Only the sera of the patients diagnosed with
Schistosoma mansoni
or
Onchocerca
volvulus
parasitic infections were negative against the
A. simplex
antigen and its purified fractions (PAK antigen:
A. simplex antigen purified
using columns prepared with anti-
A. simplex rabbit IgG and PAS antigen:
PAK antigen purified using columns prepared with anti-
Ascaris suum
rabbit
IgG). However all the sera were positive against the
A. suum antigen.
In all the sera from the patients diagnosed with
Anisakis sensitisation,
the antibody levels detected using the purified antigens (PAK and PAS antigens)
were lower than the observed using the
A. simplex crude extract with
the highest diminution in the case of the IgG. When these same sera were tested
against the
A. simplex crude extract by Western blot, several bands of
high molecular masses were observed as well as, intense bands at 60 and/or 40
kDa. A concentration of these last proteins was observed in the PAK and the
PAS antigens. When the sensitivity and the specificity determinations were performed,
only seven of the 38 patients diagnosed of
Anisakis sensitisation were
positive, as well as, the sera from the patients diagnosed with parasitisms
by
Echinococcus granulosus
or
Fasciola hepatica
.
