The specificity of somatic and metabolic Taenia taeniaeformis preparations in murine metacestode infections.

Excretory-secretory and somatic preparations of Taenia taeniaeformis contained shared immunologically-active components although immunoelectrophoresis indicated that the major antigen present in the excretory-secretory preparation was only a minor component of the somatic preparation. Both antigens gave similar immunoelectrophoretic reactions with sera from mice infected with either T. taeniaeformis or Taenia crassiceps, but there was evidence from the results using the ELISA technique that the excretory-secretory components showed more species specificity than those of somatic origin.