Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of serum antibody to Blastocystis hominis in symptomatic infections.

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was devised in order to search for antibodies against Blastocystis hominis in infected humans. Reaction proteins were obtained from washed, axenic B. hominis cells, as sonicate.

Lipid biosynthesis by axenic strains of Blastocystis hominis.

Axenic strains of Blastocystis hominis incorporated 32P, added to the medium as orthophosphate, into a number of phospholipids, including sphingomyelin, cardiolipin, phosphatidic acid, the phosphoglycerides of choline, ethanolamine, serine, and inositol and some other minor phospholipids. Radioactive palmitate and glycerol provided in the growth medium introduced radiolabel into diacylglycerols, triacylglycerols, and all major phosphoglycerides found in the organism. Palmitate is a major fatty acid of cholesterol esters in B.

Detection of microsporidian spores in clinical samples by indirect fluorescent-antibody assay using whole-cell antisera to Encephalitozoon cuniculi and Encephalitozoon hellem.

Three polyclonal mouse antisera, to Encephalitozoon cuniculi, Nosema algerae, and Nosema corneum, and two polyclonal rabbit antisera, to E. cuniculi and Encephalitozoon hellem, were used in an indirect fluorescent-antibody assay (IFA) with Enterocytozoon bieneusi, E. cuniculi, and Encephalitgozoon.