Background:

Trichinella spiralis is an intestinal and tissue nematode specific for mammalian skeletal muscle, causing a series of physiological alterations. T. spiralis excretory-secretion products play an important role in the appearance and regulation of these alterations. However, the effect of these products on the infection and invasion of the parasite to the host is unknown.

Methods:

Differences and similarities between antigenic proteins and surface proteins of four accidental hosts isolates (dogs) of T. spiralis and the reference strain isolated from pigs (MSUS/MEX/91/CM) were assessed by electrophoresis, western blot and mass spectrometry.

Results:

Using gene ontology, five proteins exclusive to the accidental hosts were analyzed. The results showed that these proteins are part of the extracellular matrix of the parasite, present catalytic activity, and bind to host cells. The antigenic activity the four strains showed the antigenic triplet characteristic of T. spiralis of 43, 45 and 47 kDa.

Conclusions:

Five proteins exclusive to dog isolates provided information to understand the mechanism of action of this parasite to penetrate the muscle and evade the immune response in the host.