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Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, February 2007, p. 150-156, Vol. 14, No. 2
1071-412X/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CVI.00285-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Expression of Antibodies Directed to Paracoccidioides brasiliensis Glycosphingolipids during the Course of Paracoccidioidomycosis Treatment{triangledown}

Silvio Bertini,1 Arnaldo L. Colombo,2 Helio K. Takahashi,1 and Anita H. Straus1*

Department of Biochemistry,1 Department of Medicine, Universidade Federal de São Paulo/Escola Paulista de Medicina, Rua Botucatu 862, São Paulo, SP 04023-900, Brazil2

Received 8 August 2006/ Returned for modification 12 September 2006/ Accepted 16 November 2006

Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is a granulomatous disease caused by the dimorphic fungus Paracoccidioides brasiliensis. The immunoglobulin classes and isotypes of antibodies directed to acidic glycosphingolipids (GSLs) and glucosylceramide of P. brasiliensis were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of sera from 31 PCM patients. The reactivities of 38 serum samples were analyzed by considering the stage of treatment: before antifungal treatment (n = 10), during 1 to 4 months of treatment (T1-4; n = 9), during 5 to 12 months of treatment (T5-12; n = 9), and posttreatment (PT; n = 10). Sera from healthy subjects (n = 12) were used as controls. Only the GSL Pb-1 antigen, which presents the carbohydrate structure Galfß1-6(Man{alpha}1-3)Manß1, was reactive with the PCM patient sera. The PCM patient sera did not react with Pb-2, which lacks the Galf residue and which is considered the biosynthetic precursor of Pb-1, indicating that the Galf residue is essential for antibody reactivity. The Pb-1 glycolipid from nontreated patients elicited a primary immune response with immunoglobulin M (IgM) production and subsequent switching to IgG1 production. The IgG1 titer increased after the start of antifungal treatment (T1-4 group), and general decreases in the anti-Pb-1 antibody titers were observed after 5 months of treatment (T5-12 and PT groups). The Pb-1 antigen, an acidic GSL with terminal Galf residue, has potential application as an elicitor of the host immune response in patients with PCM.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Botucatu, 862-Ed. J. L. Prado, 04023-900 São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. Phone: 55-11-5549-4122. Fax: 55-11-5579-2509. E-mail: straus.bioq{at}epm.br.

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 29 November 2006.

Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, February 2007, p. 150-156, Vol. 14, No. 2
1071-412X/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CVI.00285-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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