Antibodies reactivity in human Schistosoma mansoni disease: detection and functional activity.

The detection and description of the functional activity of anti S. mansoni antibodies, and the relationship between five different antigen preparations, each corresponding to one immunological test for schistosomiasis, are described. This study, using functional assay, suggests that human antibodies detected by skin tests, direct lysis of sheep erythrocytes, complement fixation reaction, indirect immunofluorescent staining and complement-mediated death of schistosomules, show important dissimilarities in reactivities, and it is impossible to ascribe these reactivities to the same class of antibodies.