CROSS-REACTIVE STUDIES IN LEISHMANIASIS - COMPARISON OF ANTIGENS OF SOME LEISHMANIA SPECIES IN KENYA

Little is known about the common antigens of various strains of Leishm ania in Kenya, and their possible role in immunity to disease. Kenyan isolates of L. donovani, L. major and L. tropica were cultured, crude antigens prepared and electrophoresced in sodium dodecyl sulphate-poly acrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Immunoblots against pooled sera from cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis patients revealed commo n antigens within the 116 kD, 70 kD and 63 kD ranges. Only 116 kD anti gens from L. major strains were reacted to by both cutaneous and visce ral leishmaniasis patient sera. Sera from normal individuals living in an endemic area for leishmaniasis also showed reactivity to the 116 k D antigen. We suggest that these common antigens may be of value in fu ture immunodiagnostic and vaccine studies.