AGE-SPECIFIC ACQUISITION OF IMMUNITY TO INFECTIVE LARVAE IN A BANCROFTIAN FILARIASIS ENDEMIC AREA OF PAPUA-NEW-GUINEA

The development of antibodies to infective stages of the filarial parasite, Wuchereria bancrofti, with age of the host human population was studied by immunofluorescence, immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting assays. Among individuals under 20 years of age, few had detectable antibodies to the infective (L3) larval surface by IFA: only 2 out of 10 scored positive. However, all adults (over 20 years) were positive in this assay although the utilization of isotypes varied between different individuals. Whilst antibodies to the L3 surface are therefore acquired after prolonged exposure to infection (> 20 years), recognition patterns of L3 surface labelled antigens, measured by immunoprecipitation analysis iodinated proteins on SDS-PAGE, and of somatic L3 proteins on immunoblots, were equivalent in the two age groups. Thus, a critical surface antigen, recognised in an age-dependent manner, is present on the L3 cuticle but cannot be resolved as a conventional protein or glycoprotein constitutent.