Monoclonal Antibodies as a Diagnostic Tool for Helminth Infection

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The fundamental tool for diagnosis of parasite infection is egg detection by fecal examination. However, in some parasite infection, it is impossible to detect eggs in the faces because of the specific life history of the worm. Furthermore, in endemic areas, it is sometimes difficult to find specialists skilled in microscopic diagnosis. For these reasons, immuno-sero diagnosis may be a useful approach, but as is well known, crude parasite antigens always show some degree of cross-reactivity with heterologous parasite antigens. To overcome this problem, purification of these antigens is critical. Affinity chromatography using a monoclonal antibody (MoAb) to a specific parasite appears a promising aid to diagnosis. Furthermore, production of recombinant protein using monoclonal antibody as a probe may be useful not only for diagnosis but for the development of a vaccine against parasite infection. With these points in mind, we attempted to establish MoAbs to various helminths as the first step to purification of diagnostic antigens.