Vaccine studies conducted with cloned scabies antigens.

2003 MAR 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to a study from Australia, "Sarcoptes scabiei ('itch mite') causes scabies, a disease of considerable human and veterinary significance. Little work has been done at the molecular level because of the difficulty of obtaining mites. We have used mites in skin from the bedding of crusted scabies patients for the construction of a library of 10[superscript]5 cDNAs from S. scabiei var. hominis cloned in the vector pGEX4T-2."

"We describe the isolation by immunoscreening of 2 clones, one of which (Ssag1) is homologous to and cross-reactive with the house dust mite Euroglyphus maynei allergen M-177, an apolipoprotein from hemolymph," stated Pearly Harumal and colleagues at Menzies School of Health Research, the University of Queensland, and Darwin Hospital. "Immunohistochemistry revealed that it is located around the internal organs and cuticle of the mite and in eggs. Although it was not found to be protective in a challenge trial, the rabbits did not exhibit typical crust characteristics."

Harumal and coauthors concluded, ...