Trichomonas vaginalis and Tritrichomonas foetus secrete neuraminidase into the culture medium

Abstract

Supernatants taken from axenic cultures of Trichomonas vaginalis and Tritrichomonas foetus contain a neuraminidase activity, the detection of which is augmented when the trichomonad culture media are supplemented with 30% supernatant of confluent epithelial cultures. The enzyme was active against human erythrocytes, which became highly reactive to peanut agglutinin lectin. The specificity of the enzyme was checked by using a substrate specific to neuraminidase: 2'-(4-methylumbelliferyl)-alpha-D-N-acetylneuramic acid.