Evaluation of antigenic potential of proteins released by Tritrichomonas foetus.

RIVERO MB; CARRANZA, PG; ABDALA, ME; DI LULLO, D; RIVERO, FD; LUQUE, ME; LUNA, BE

Encuentro; XXXII Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Protozoología; 2020

Sociedad Argentina de Protozoología

"Bovine Tricomonosis" (BT), caused by infection with the flagellated parasite Tritrichomonas foetus (Tf), is a sexually transmitted disease limited to the urogenital tract of cattle. It causes endometritis, infertility and premature death of the embryo, which generates considerable economic losses. It is a disease of worldwide distribution and in Argentina it´s considered endemic. Excretion/secretion Proteins (ESP) have been shown to be virulence factors in Tf and constitute a target for the development of diagnostic methods and vaccines. The objective was to determine the antigenic potential of ESPs previously purified and characterized by mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) from six Tf isolates (Tf0-Tf5). On the one hand, we evaluated the ability of the antibodies obtained from mice previously immunized with the ESPs from Tf3 to detect the proteins purified from the six isolates. On the other hand, we used the purified ESPs to design immunoassays to evaluate their ability to detect specific antibodies present in sera from infected bulls. The results showed that antibodies from mice immunized with Tf3 ESPs were able to recognize antigens from all isolates in spot and western blot assays. Additionally, the ESPs of the six isolates were effective in detecting antibodies present in sera from infected bulls using the same techniques. The observed results and the fact that excretion-secretion proteins are released to the vaginal and preputial environment, increasing the possibility of detection, show that they are excellent candidates for the development of new TB diagnostic methods.