G. Tabouret et al., Oestrus ovis (Diptera : Oestridae): sheep humoral immune response to purified excreted/secreted salivary gland 28 kDa antigen complex from second andthird instar larvae, VET PARASIT, 101(1), 2001, pp. 53-66
The potential of Oestrus ovis larvae excretory-secretory products (ESP), cr
ude extract, salivary gland contents (SGc) and digestive tube contents (DTc
) proteins from O. ovis larvae as antigens in serological assay were analyz
ed and compared. This study demonstrated that excretory-secretory proteins
were produced mainly by digestive tube and salivary gland. The main antigen
ic component of ESP was a 28 kDa protein complex (pc28) synthesized by the
salivary gland ring. After purification. its diagnostic value was estimated
by an ELISA using sheep sera sampled in summer (n = 30) and winter (n = 69
) in order to investigate the relative importance of wintering hypobiotic f
irst instar larvae on animal responsiveness. ELISA test based on pc28 antig
en was compared to a reference ELISA test based on second instar larvae cru
de extract. After comparison it appeared that the pc28 test was much more s
pecific (87%) and more sensitive (90%) in summer. Anti-pc28 antibody titers
were significantly higher in summer than in winter demonstrating the impac
t of summer developing larvae on the humoral systemic immune response. This
data was correlated to the maturation of larvae in summer as the number of
larvae at necropsy was significantly higher in winter, when the larval pop
ulation is only represented by first instar larvae, than in summer. No corr
elation was observed between the mean antibody titers and the number of lar
vae. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.