Human antibody responses against schistosomal antigens. I. Antibodies from patients with Ancylostoma, Ascaris lumbricoides or Schistosoma mansoni infections react with schistosome antigens.

Sera of patients with either hookworm infections or ascariasis, who are from areas nonendemic for Schistosoma mansoni, contain antibody reactivity against extracts of S. mansoni schistosomula. Such patients with hookworm, but not those with Ascaris lumbricoides, also express considerable antibody activity against intact schistosomula and schistosomular membrane preparations. Sera from patients with schistosomiasis mansoni also contain these activities. Because these three helminthic infections often occur in the same areas, and concomitantly in patients, anti-schistosomular reactivity should not be ascribed only to exposure to schistosomes. The demonstration and definition of these surface-specific cross-reactivities point out the problems of serodiagnosis, and the potential of interactive influences in the common occurrence of multiple helminthic infections in humans.