ISSN 2756-3413
African Journal of Virology Research ISSN 3421-7347 Vol. 1 (7), pp. 112-115, July, 2007. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Assessment of the immunoglobulin status of Nigerians with Schistosoma haematobium infection
*Njoku Okorafor1, Francis Owoh2 and Elizabeth Uzukwu2
1Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Abia State University, Uturu, Nigeria.
2Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences, Akwa Ibom State University, Uyo, Nigeria.
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected].
Accepted 10 February, 2007
Abstract
The preliminary investigation revealed the prevalence of 138 (46.9%) out of 294 volunteers screened for the ova of Schistosoma haematobium in their urine samples. Of these, 84(28.6%) had light infection (50 ova/10 ml urine), while 54(18.4%) had heavy infection (> 50 ova/10 ml urine). This difference was statistically significant at ( 2 = 6.52, p > 0.05). The mean immunoglobulin status were as follow: IgE (2141.6 ± 143.7 ng/dL), IgG (13.6 ± 3.53 mg/dL), IgA (3.72 ± 0.149 mg/dL), IgM (2.82 ± 0.48 mg/dL) and IgD (0.12 ± 0.04 mg/dL) . The relationship between the IgM, IgE and the intensities of infection were positively correlated (r = 0.27 and r = 0.65, respectively) . IgG, IgA and IgD showed negative correlation with the intensities of infection (r = -0.65, r = -0.39 and r = - 0.18, respectively). IgG and IgA can be used as markers of light infection, while IgM and IgE can be used as markers for heavy infection. We deduced that the levels of IgG, IgA and IgM, which were depleted in the infected volunteers, compared to the control subjects, which lacked significant protective effects in these infected volunteers. These low levels of IgA, IgG and IgM and high level of IgE may be involved in maintenance of S. haematobium infection in our study area.
Key words: IgA, IgD, IgE, IgG, IgM, Schistosoma haematobium, Nigerians.