Mucosal and systemic immune responses to plasmid protein pgp3 in patients with genital and ocular Chlamydia trachomatis infection.

Abstract

The circulating and cervical B cell responses to Chlamydia trachomatis plasmid protein pgp3 were characterized in children and adults with ocular or genital chlamydial infection using the enzyme-linked immunospot assay (ELISPOT) and ELISA. No pgp3-specific ASCs were detected in healthy controls, but predominantly IgA ASCs were detected in UK adults with uncomplicated cervicitis or urethritis (P = 0.03, 0.019). In patients with extragenital complications or pelvic inflammatory disease a mixed response with more IgG and IgM ASCs was evident, suggesting a breach of mucosal immune compartmentalization with more extensive infection. In women with chlamydial cervicitis, ASCs secreting predominantly IgA, but also IgG, to pgp3 were present in cervix at presentation, with a frequency 30-50 times higher than blood. Cervical ASC numbers, especially IgG, fell markedly six weeks after antibiotic treatment. We detected principally IgA pgp3-specific antibody secreting cells (ASCs) in children resident in a Gambian endemic area, with a trend towards suppression of IgA responses during intense trachomatous inflammation (P = 0.06), as previously reported for other chlamydial antigens, and in keeping with the findings in genital disease. These data provide a rationale for further studies of immune responses to pgp3 in humans and animal models of chlamydia-induced disease, and its potential use in diagnostic assays and protective immunization strategies.

• Authors: S Ghaem-Maghami, G Ratti, M Ghaem-Maghami, M Comanducci, P E Hay, R L Bailey, D C W Mabey, H C Whittle, M E Ward, D J M Lewis
• Journal: Clinical and experimental immunology (Clin Exp Immunol) Vol. 132 Issue 3 Pg. 436-42 (Jun 2003) ISSN: 0009-9104 [Print] England
• PMID: 12780690 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Anti-Bacterial Agents
• Antibodies, Bacterial
• Antigens, Bacterial
• Bacterial Proteins
• Immunoglobulin A
• Immunoglobulin G
• Immunoglobulin M
• pgp3 protein, Chlamydia

Topics

• Adult
• Anti-Bacterial Agents (therapeutic use)
• Antibodies, Bacterial (biosynthesis)
• Antibody Specificity
• Antibody-Producing Cells (immunology)
• Antigens, Bacterial (immunology)
• Bacterial Proteins (immunology)
• Child
• Chlamydia Infections (drug therapy, immunology)
• Chlamydia trachomatis (immunology)
• Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (methods)
• Female
• Humans
• Immunity, Mucosal
• Immunoglobulin A (biosynthesis)
• Immunoglobulin G (biosynthesis)
• Immunoglobulin M (biosynthesis)
• Male
• Trachoma (immunology, microbiology)
• Urethritis (immunology, microbiology)
• Uterine Cervicitis (drug therapy, immunology, microbiology)