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Variations in the protective immune response against streptococcal superantigens in populations of different ethnicity

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Abstract

Superantigens (SAgs) from group A streptococcus (GAS) are potent T cell mitogens, and have been suggested to play a role in severe streptococcal disease. Neutralizing antibodies protect against SAg-mediated disease and their levels should therefore be inversely related to severe streptococcal infection. Neutralizing anti-SAg titers in patients with severe GAS infection and patients without disease were compared in two separate groups. The first group comprised patients with invasive GAS disease from New Zealand European, Maori, and Pacific Island descent. The second group comprised Aboriginal Australian individuals with rheumatic heart disease and/or a past history of acute rheumatic fever. Patients sera were tested for their ability to neutralize T cell mitogenicity of recombinant streptococcal SAgs as a measure of functional SAg-neutralizing antibody concentration. In both studies, no inverse correlation was observed between disease and the level of serum SAg-neutralizing activity. Notably, much higher levels of natural immunity to all streptococcal SAgs were found in New Zealand Maori, New Zealand Pacific Island, and Aboriginal Australian individuals, suggesting a high degree of natural exposure and seroconversion in these groups compared to the New Zealand European cohort. Levels of serum antibodies against SAgs could not be used to predict disease susceptibility in groups with existing high levels of SAg-neutralizing antibodies.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by a Marsden Fast Start grant from the Royal Society of New Zealand, a Sir Charles Hercus Research Fellowship from the Health Research Council (HRC) New Zealand (both to T.P.), a grant from the Swedish Society of Medicine (to B.K.G.E.), an Australian National Health and Research Council (NHMRC) project grant (to N.C., No. 216716), by the CRC for Aboriginal and Tropical Health and a grant from the Australian National Heart Foundation (both to Z.H. and B. J. C.). We would like to thank Dr. Bill Abbott and Mrs. Yi Yang for their generous assistance with phlebotomy and Dr. Bill Abbott for his valuable help with statistical analysis.

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Author notes

  1. Björn K. G. Eriksson

    Present address: Department of Infectious Diseases, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge University Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden

  2. Zinta Harrington

    Present address: Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Medicine& Pathology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Lily P. H. Yang, John D. Fraser & Thomas Proft

  2. Clinical Microbiology, Middlemore Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand

    Björn K. G. Eriksson & Selwyn Lang

  3. Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases Division, Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory, Australia

    Zinta Harrington & Bart J. Currie

  4. Department Of Paediatrics, Royal Children’s Hospital, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

    Nigel Curtis

Authors
  1. Lily P. H. Yang
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  2. Björn K. G. Eriksson
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  3. Zinta Harrington
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  4. Nigel Curtis
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  7. John D. Fraser
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  8. Thomas Proft
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas Proft.

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Yang, L.P.H., Eriksson, B.K.G., Harrington, Z. et al. Variations in the protective immune response against streptococcal superantigens in populations of different ethnicity. Med Microbiol Immunol 195, 37–43 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00430-005-0245-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00430-005-0245-6

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