Immunoreactivities for Entamoeba histolytica in patients with amebic liver abscesses.

We defined the major specificities of antibodies present in sera from patients with amebic liver abscesses, diagnosed by gamagrafia. These immune reactivities were analyzed against plasma membrane and extract antigens of Entamoeba histolytica, resolved by electrophoresis and blotted to nitrocellulose scheets. We observed that each of the 26 patients revealed a distinct pattern in the plasma membrane and in the total extract preparations. Most of these sera detected a prominent plasma membrane polypeptide of 166 kDa. We also observed that the same pattern of specificities persisted in the patients sera for six months after treatment.