EVALUATION OF ANTIBODY-RESPONSES IN INDIAN KALA-AZAR BY IMMUNOBLOT

When infected with Leishmania species, patients develop specific antib odies that constitute the basis of serodiagnosis. Using Western blot a nalysis we studied the specificity of anti-leishmania donovani antibod ies in patients with visceral leishmaniasis, healthy subjects living i n an endemic and non-endemic areas, and patients of other infectious d iseases like malaria, leprosy, tuberculosis and tropical splenomegaly. Sera from patients with kala-azar recognised numerous antigens that h ad a molecular weight of 150 KD, 145 KD, 120 KD, 92 KD, 87 KD, 81 KD, 72 KD, 65 KD, 56 KD, 50 KD, 40 KD, 26 KD, 21 KD, 14 KD, and 12 KD. The 150, 145, 120, 92, 87, 81, 65, 26, 21, 14, and 12 KD antigens had the greatest specificity for kala-azar sera while the bands of molecular weight 72, 56, 50, and 40 KD were found to be cross reactive with sera of patients of other diseases.