Comparative inflammatory properties of staphylococcal superantigenic enterotoxins SEA and SEG: implications for septic shock.

Abstract

The severity of Staphylococcus aureus sepsis is positively associated with staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) and negatively associated with the enterotoxin gene cluster (egc), which encodes five staphylococcal enterotoxins. We postulated that the variable, clinical severity of S. aureus sepsis might be a result of differences in the inflammatory properties of staphylococcal superantigens. We therefore compared the inflammatory properties of SEA with those of staphylococcal entérotoxin G (SEG), a member of the five egc superantigens. We found that SEA and SEG had similar superantigenic properties, as they induced CD69 expression on T lymphocytes and selective expansion of Vbeta subpopulations. Contrary to SEG, however, SEA induced a strong proinflammatory/Th1 response, including TNF-alpha and MIP-1alpha production. These results suggest that the association of SEA with the severity of S. aureus septic shock, characterized by a deleterious, inflammatory cascade, may be explained partly by the specific proinflammatory properties of this superantigen.

• Authors: Olivier Dauwalder, Damien Thomas, Tristan Ferry, Anne-Lise Debard, Cédric Badiou, François Vandenesch, Jerome Etienne, Gerard Lina, Guillaume Monneret
• Journal: Journal of leukocyte biology (J Leukoc Biol) Vol. 80 Issue 4 Pg. 753-8 (Oct 2006) ISSN: 0741-5400 [Print] United States
• PMID: 16885504 (Publication Type: Comparative Study, Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Antigens, CD
• Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte
• CD69 antigen
• Chemokine CCL3
• Chemokine CCL4
• Enterotoxins
• Lectins, C-Type
• Macrophage Inflammatory Proteins
• Superantigens
• Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
• enterotoxin G, staphylococcal
• enterotoxin A, Staphylococcal

Topics

• Antigens, CD (biosynthesis, drug effects)
• Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte (biosynthesis, drug effects)
• Chemokine CCL3
• Chemokine CCL4
• Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
• Enterotoxins (immunology, pharmacology)
• Humans
• Inflammation (immunology)
• Lectins, C-Type
• Leukocytes, Mononuclear (drug effects, immunology)
• Macrophage Inflammatory Proteins (biosynthesis)
• Shock, Septic (immunology)
• Structure-Activity Relationship
• Superantigens (immunology, pharmacology)
• T-Lymphocytes (drug effects, immunology)
• Th1 Cells (drug effects, immunology)
• Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (biosynthesis, drug effects)