Identificazione di proteine secrete daTrichomonas vaginalise loro caratterizzazione come potenziali marcatori d’infezione

Trichomonas vaginalisis the agent of trichomoniasis, one of the most diffused sexually transmitted infections in humans. Routine diagnosis is based on direct microscopic examination and molecular techniques, which are limited by a low sensitivity, being dependent on the number of protozoa in samples. Indirect immunological techniques could represent an efficient alternative. The aim of this study was to identify immunological markers suitable for serodiagnosis of infection.We have performed proteomic analyses ofT. vaginalis-secreted proteins and three proteins, heat-shock-protein70 (HSP70), ubiquitin (Ubi) and peroxiredoxin (Prx), were selected for their hypothetical immunogenicity and role in carcinogenesis.A total of 53 Tv-positive and 40 Tv-negative sera from women and 30 Tv-positive and 10 Tv-negative sera from males, were used to test the immunogenicity of selected proteins. To verify the presence of antibodies against the selected proteins by ELISA, we designed three specific peptides for each protein.Results demonstrate that selected peptides were able to induce an immune response in females. Interestingly, sera from male were much less reactive to TvHSP70, TvUbi and TvPrx peptides than female sera. Peptide combinations designed to minimize false-positives among tested sera were performed.These findings confirm that peptide of TvPrx, TvUbi and TvHsp70 are suitable candidate as sex-specific markers ofT. vaginalisinfections, representing a useful alternative to direct diagnostic methods.