Expression of antibodies directed to Paracoccidioides brasiliensis glycosphingolipids during the course of paracoccidioidomycosis treatment.

Abstract

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 Galfbeta1-6(Manalpha1-3)Manbeta1, 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.

• Authors: Silvio Bertini, Arnaldo L Colombo, Helio K Takahashi, Anita H Straus
• Journal: Clinical and vaccine immunology : CVI (Clin Vaccine Immunol) Vol. 14 Issue 2 Pg. 150-6 (Feb 2007) ISSN: 1556-6811 [Print] United States
• PMID: 17135452 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Antibodies, Fungal
• Glycosphingolipids

Topics

• Adult
• Aged
• Antibodies, Fungal (biosynthesis, blood)
• Glycosphingolipids (immunology)
• Humans
• Middle Aged
• Paracoccidioides (immunology)
• Paracoccidioidomycosis (immunology, therapy)