Identification of Trichmonas vaginalis alpha-actinin as the most common immunogen recognized by sera of women exposed to the parasite

A study on presence of antibodies to Trichomonis vaginalis in serum was don e on a group of 500 pregnant, asymptomatic Angolan women. A serologic scree ning, done by ELISA, revealed that 41% of the women had IgG and IgM against the parasite. Analysis of sera by immunoblotting revealed that 94.4% of se ra with anti-T. vaginalis IgG class antibodies were reactive against a comm on immunogenic protein of 115 kDa, The common immunogen was identified as t he protozoan or-actinin. All sera recognizing the 115-kDa antigen were reac tive against both native and recombinant T. vaginalis oi-actinin and nonrea ctive against human alpha-actinin, The findings presented in this work offe r a new tool for epidemiologic studies and open new perspectives for vaccin ation.