Analysis of the antigenicity in mice of biotinyl enzymes from Anisakis simplex and other nematodes

We analyzed the antigenicity of biotinyl enzymes contained in somatic extra cts from Anisakis simplex and other parasite nematodes and show in this rep ort that these molecules are an important source of cross-reactivity proble ms among these nematodes. Cross-reactivity was most pronounced among member s of the superfamily Ascaridoidea. These results suggest that the presence of biotinyl enzymes in whole somatic extracts of A. simplex and other paras ites may make serodiagnostic assays based on this kind of antigenic prepara tion unreliable.