الفهرس 
Introduction and Aim of the workOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Fascioliasis is a chronic helminthes disease and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in domestic ruminants causing serious economic losses due to decrease in productivity of infected cattle, sheep and goats. Also, Fascioliasis, caused by either F. hepatica or F. gigantica, induces economic losses due to liver condemnation, mortality, secondary bacterial and viral infections. Western blot analysis revealed that Specific IgG anti-Fasciola antibody reacted against an antigen at an apparent molecular weight of 26-28 kDa serum sources, but no reaction was observed in samples of healthy control. This 26-28-kDa antigen was purified from serum of patients infected with Fasciola by electroelution technique. The purified 26-28kDa antigen was precipitated with trichloroacetic acid (TCA) and the precipitate stained with silver staining and appears as single band after analysis by SDS-PAGE. The anatomic localization of the antigenic determinants recognized by specific IgG rabbit anti-fasciola target antigens using indirect immunoperoxidase staining indicate the localization of the target antigen and distribution of its target epitopes in tissues of F. gigantica adult worms. A total of 120 serum samples of infected patients, Fasciola antigen was detected in 112 out of 120 serum samples of fasciola infected patients with sensitivity (93 %). 53 serum samples out of 57 non infected individuals were negative for 26-28 kDa fasciola antigen with specificity (95 % ),efficiency (94 ), positive predictive value (97 %), negative predictive value (87% ) using dot- ELISA. In conclusion, a 26-28-kDa Fasciola antigen was recognized in serum samples of Fasciola infected patients using specific Rabbit IgG anti-Fasciola. The 26 –28 kDa fasciola antigen was characterized as a protein and because of its relatively small molecular size it can be easily synthesized in large quantities. Further studies regarding the use of 26-28 kDa antigen as an immunochemical probe for diagnosis of fascioliasis and also, the use of 26 -28kDa antigen as a candidate vaccine may be useful. Key words: (not more than ten):Fasciola, antigens, Western blot, 26-28 kDa fasciola antigen, SDS-PAGE, immunodiagnosis of fasciola infection.