A comparative in vitro study of antibody binding to different stages of the hookworm Ancylostoma caninum

Abstract

The Indirect Fluorescent Antibody Technique (IFAT) and the Indirect Immuno Peroxidase Technique (IIPT) have been applied to cryostat sections and intact stages of the hookworm species Ancylostoma caninum with sera from infected dogs. Especially the role of the body surface (= cuticle (cortex, matrix, basal layer) and hypodermis) in immunity was studied. Using cryostat sections and dead intact stages as the antigen, specific antibody binding was demonstrated round the ovum membrane and the cuticle of all stages of this hookworm species. Cryostat sections of adult worms showed, that it probably is not the cuticle itself that is antigenic, but that the specific reaction that is observed consisted of a layer, covering the cortex of the cuticle. Infective and parasitic living stages, however, showed no antibody binding in contrast to the free-living stages in which specific antibody binding was demonstrated.