Table 2.
Characteristics of salivary proteins with significant differences in host antibody specificity profiles
| Salivary proteins (estimated MW) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 kDa | 26 kDa | 30 kDa | 38 kDa | 44 kDa | |
| MENA* | |||||
| Percentage positive sera† | |||||
| Egypt | |||||
| CA (−/−) | 43.24 | 27.03 | 37.84 | 45.95 | 8.11 |
| AW (+/−) | 90.00‡ | 70.00‡ | 90.00‡ | 95.00‡ | 42.50‡ |
| NS (+/+) | 79.41‡ | 55.88‡ | 88.24‡ | 79.41‡ | 41.18‡ |
| Jordan | |||||
| AM (−/−) | 56.76 | 21.62 | 59.46 | 70.27 | 13.51 |
| MA (+/−) | 58.54 | 21.95 | 78.05‡ | 73.17 | 12.20 |
| SW (+/+) | 77.50‡ | 35.00 | 90.00‡ | 60.00 | 45.00‡ |
| Average blot intensity§ | |||||
| Egypt | |||||
| CA (−/−) | 0.51 ± 0.08 | 0.38 ± 0.13 | 0.62 ± 0.15 | 0.59 ± 0.12 | 0.14 ± 0.11 |
| AW (+/−) | 1.31 ± 0.15‡ | 0.90 ± 0.11‡ | 1.83 ± 0.16‡ | 1.33 ± 0.11‡ | 0.70 ± 0.12‡ |
| NS (+/+) | 1.26 ± 0.18‡ | 0.96 ± 0.17‡ | 2.09 ± 0.18‡ | 1.38 ± 0.17‡ | 0.84 ± 0.15‡ |
| Jordan | |||||
| AM (−/−) | 0.66 ± 0.10 | 0.24 ± 0.14 | 0.86 ± 0.15 | 0.97 ± 0.08 | 0.22 ± 0.11 |
| MA (+/−) | 0.76 ± 0.06 | 0.29 ± 0.15 | 1.37 ± 0.16‡ | 1.15 ± 0.10 | 0.13 ± 0.12 |
| SW (+/+) | 1.08 ± 0.14‡ | 0.41 ± 0.15 | 1.53 ± 0.15‡ | 0.94 ± 0.10 | 0.75 ± 0.12‡ |
| Immunogenicity (a.u.)¶ | |||||
| Egypt | |||||
| CA (−/−) | 0.22 | 0.10 | 0.24 | 0.27 | 0.01 |
| AW (+/−) | 1.18‡ | 0.63‡ | 1.64‡ | 1.26‡ | 0.30‡ |
| NS (+/+) | 1.00‡ | 0.53‡ | 1.84‡ | 1.10‡ | 0.35‡ |
| Jordan | |||||
| AM (−/−) | 0.38 | 0.05 | 0.51 | 0.68 | 0.03 |
| MA (+/−) | 0.44 | 0.06 | 1.07‡ | 0.84 | 0.02 |
| SW (+/+) | 0.83‡ | 0.14 | 1.37‡ | 0.56 | 0.34‡ |
| 12 kDa | 14 kDa | 26 kDa | 30 kDa | 38 kDa | |
| US military* | |||||
| Percentage positive sera† | |||||
| United States | |||||
| Control | 48.28 | 51.72 | 44.83 | 48.28 | 48.28 |
| Bitten | 23.53 | 52.94 | 64.71 | 29.41 | 76.47 |
| Infected | 34.78 | 13.04‡ | 30.43 | 21.74 | 73.91‡ |
| Average blot intensity§ | |||||
| United States | |||||
| Control | 0.52 ± 0.57 | 0.53 ± 0.53 | 0.50 ± 0.60 | 0.64 ± 0.77 | 0.48 ± 0.51 |
| Bitten | 0.24 ± 0.44 | 0.71 ± 0.85 | 0.74 ± 0.62 | 0.29 ± 0.47 | 1.00 ± 0.71 |
| Infected | 0.52 ± 0.85 | 0.30 ± 0.82‡ | 0.48 ± 0.79 | 0.30 ± 0.70 | 1.70 ± 1.19‡ |
| Immunogenicity (arbitrary units)¶ | |||||
| United States | |||||
| Control | 0.25 | 0.28 | 0.22 | 0.31 | 0.23 |
| Bitten | 0.06 | 0.37 | 0.48 | 0.09 | 0.76 |
| Infected | 0.18 | 0.04‡ | 0.15 | 0.07 | 1.25‡ |
Collection site abbreviations and conditional marks correspond to those abbreviations and marks presented in Table 1 (e.g., +/− refers to a region with known endemic P. papatasi populations but no reports of L. major infections or for US military personnel, donor reported history of sand fly bites but there is no confirmed diagnoses of cutaneous leishmaniasis).
Percentage of serum donors from the given location with antibody recognition of salivary proteins at the estimated MW.
Those regions with significant (P ≤ 0.05) differences in antibody reactivity compared with national negative control regions or US personnel who were not bitten by sand flies.
Western immunoblots of human sera against P. papatasi SGS were scored manually by three independent observers using a scale: 0 = no reaction; 1 = weak reaction; 2 = moderate reaction; 3 = intense reaction (all judged relative to a constant positive control).
Immunogenicity here is calculated as (probability of donor serum antibody specificity to a particular salivary protein within a regional sample group) × (average band intensity among that regional group) = a.u. of immunogenicity.