Glycolipid antigens of adult O. volvulus reactive with patients sera from onchocerciasis endemic areas in Cameroon

Abstract

Lipid extraction of adult O. volvulus worms using a chloroform/methanoiywatcr mixture yielded 10 lipid fractions of which 8 were demonstrated by the orcinol reagent to be glycolipids. In TLC, two of these lipid fractions had mobilities similar to cholesterol and cholesterol ester (Rf. : 0.95, 0.86) wherea s two others migrated as sphingomyelin and lccithin (Rf. : 0.40, 0.35) respectively. Other components migrated at intermediate positions. The glycolipids were immunologically active and reacted with sera from onchocerciasis patients. The highest reaction w a s obtained with the IgG antibody class, followed by IgM while no appreciable reactivity was observed with IgE. Sera from patients infected with other filariae such as Loa-loa and Dipetalonema perstans did not show any significant reaction with these antigens. The significance of these results is discussed.