application of western blotting using native antigen b for serodiagnosis of human cystic echinococcosis

background: hydatidosis is one of the most important helminthic diseases causing serious health and economic problems in many countries including iran. currently available diagnostic approaches for diagnosis of cystic echinococcosis (ce) are not satisfactory since they have not achieved a reasonable validity in diagnosis of ce. this study aimed to assess the perform¬ances of western blotting (wb), using native antigen b, for serological diagnosis of human hydatidosis. methods: antigen b was prepared from sheep hydatid cyst fluid. serum samples obtained from 40 surgically proven cases of hydatidosis along with serum samples from non-hydatidosis patients and samples from healthy persons were tested by immunoblotting, using native antigen b. results: from 40 sera of hydatidosis patients, 32 cases (80%) detected 8 kda subunit, 29 cases (72.5%) recognized the 16 kda component and 29 cases (72.5%) detected 24 kda subunit of antigen b. the highest sensitivity (80%) was achieved with 8 kda subunit of antigen b while the other components (16 and 24 kda) showed a lower sensitivity (72.5%). samples from healthy controls and non-hydatidosis patients did not yield any detectable band in the western blotting assay. ac-cordingly, specificity of the system was found to be 100%. conclusion: considering the use of native antigen b, application of western blotting, based on 8 kda subunit of antigen b, is highly recommended for the confirmatory diagnosis of hydatidosis.