Differential immune response to Onchocerca volvulus: IgG(4) antibody responses differ in Onchocerciasis patients from Guatemala and Ghana

Geographical differences exist in the clinical features of onchocerciasis in Central America and West Africa, which could be due in part from variations in the antigenic composition of the infecting organism. In an attempt to address this question, adult female worms of Onchocerca volvulus derived from nodules of patients from Guatemala and Ghana were compared in terms of polypeptide composition and the IgG(4) antibody responses induced in patients. It was shown that a Tris-buffer soluble extract from the worms obtained in the two regions differ in polypeptide composition. Furthermore, the diagnostic polypeptides were found to be in the 30 kDa region hut the recognition of these antigens was less intense and less frequently observed in the sera of microfilaria (mf) positive patients from Ghana than equivalent age and sex matched patients from Guatemala. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.