Diagnostic significance of Schistosoma mansoni proteins Sm31 and Sm32 in human schistosomiasis in an endemic area in Egypt.

We performed a series of ELISAs to evaluate the diagnostic significance of two Schistosoma mansoni proteins, Sm31 (cysteine proteinase, cathepsin B) and Sm32 (asparaginyl endopeptidase). Our study populations were chosen from two villages in an endemic area close to Alexandria. Using fusion proteins MS2-Sm31 and MS2-Sm32 as antigens, 70% and 78.9%, respectively, of patient sera from 134 parasitologically confirmed cases reacted positively. The percentage of seropositivity increased to 84.5% when parasite-derived proteins Sm31 and Sm32 were used. The serum levels of antibodies to these two proteins in recombinant or native forms do not correlate with intensity of infection and hence are detected even when egg counts are low, which makes proteins Sm31 and Sm32 useful antigens in the identification of S. mansoni infected cases, particularly in endemic areas in Egypt.