Jacalin-unbound fraction of Taenia saginata in immunodiagnosis of neurocysticercosis in human cerebrospinal fluid

The aim of this study was to evaluate jacalin-bound fraction (JBF) and jacalin-unbound fraction (JUF) of the total saline extract from Taenia saginata metacestodes for human neurocysticercosis (NC) immunodiagnosis in cerebrospinal fluid. Total extract, JBF, and JUF were separated by affinity chromatography using Sepharose®-jacalin and were tested in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blotting (WB) to detect immunoglobulin G. In ELISA test, JUF showed the higher diagnostic efficiency and specificity indexes, 92% and 100%, respectively. In WB, 5 immunodominant proteins (39–42, 47–52, 64–68, 70, and 75 kDa) were detected when using JUF. In conclusion, the results achieved demonstrate that JUF, obtained from T. saginata metacestodes, are an important source of specific peptides and are efficient in the diagnosis of NC.