Trichinella spiralis
nudix hydrolase (TsNd) gene encoding a 46 kDa
protein was expressed in Escherichia coli and the potential of recombinant TsNd
protein (rTsNd) as an
antigen for the serodiagnosis of
trichinellosis was investigated by ELISA and compared with those of ELISA with T. spiralis muscle larval excretory-secretory (ES)
antigens. The sensitivity of both ELISA was 100% (30/30), for the detection of anti-Trichinella
IgG antibodies in sera of the experimentally infected mice, and the specificity of rTsNd-ELISA and ES-ELISA was 100% (54/54) and 98% (53/54), respectively (P;0.05). Serum anti-Trichinella
antibodies were firstly detected by rTsNd-ELISA at 14 days post
infection (dpi), then continued to increase with a detection rate of 100% at 36 dpi. The anti-Trichinella antibody levels at different times after
infection were statistically different (P;0.05). The results showed that the rTsNd might be a potential candidate
antigen for specific serodiagnosis of
trichinellosis. But, it needs to be further evaluated with sera of the patients with
trichinellosis and other
helminthiasis.