This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Other Versions of this Article: CVI.00271-06v1 14/1/44    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Maripuu, L. Articles by Norgren, M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Maripuu, L. Articles by Norgren, M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, January 2007, p. 44-51, Vol. 14, No. 1
1071-412X/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CVI.00271-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Dynamics of the Immune Response against Extracellular Products of Group A Streptococci during Infection

Linda Maripuu,^1, Anna Eriksson,^1,, Björn Eriksson,² Karlis Pauksen,³ Stig Holm,⁴ and Mari Norgren^1*

Department of Clinical Microbiology, Biomedical Laboratory Science, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden,¹ Division of Infectious Diseases, Institution of Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden,² Department of Infectious Disease, Akademiska Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden,³ Department of Clinical Microbiology, Clinical Bacteriology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden⁴

Received 10 July 2006/ Returned for modification 11 September 2006/ Accepted 2 November 2006

The immune response against the infecting group A streptococcus (GAS) extracellular products (EP) was determined in acute- and convalescent-phase sera from 75 patients with different clinical manifestations of GAS infection. All EP elicited a high proliferative response in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. In patients with bacteremia, low neutralization in acute-phase sera was associated with development of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. Lack of neutralization in acute-phase sera was more common in patients infected with the T1emm1 serotype. The majority of patients did not develop the ability to neutralize the mitogenic activity of their infecting isolate despite a significant increase in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay titer in early convalescent-phase sera. In patients with the ability to neutralize GAS EP, the immune response remained high over at least 3 years. In contrast, the neutralization capacity conferred by intravenous immunoglobulin and/or plasma treatment disappeared within 3 months.

Published ahead of print on 8 November 2006.

These authors have contributed equally.

Present address: Department of Medicine/Rheumatology, Autoimmunity and Tolerance Laboratory, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.