Comparison of a new enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method with counterimmunoelectrophoresis for detection of teichoic acid antibodies in sera from patients with Staphylococcus aureus infections

Abstract

Ribitol-teichoic acid antibodies were measured by a new enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and by counterimmunoelectrophoresis in serum samples from 47 patients with serious Staphylococcus aureus infections, 63 infected patients, and 177 healthy controls. The same antigen was used for both tests. The group of patients with S. aureus endocarditis (6 patients) had significantly higher ELISA readings than the patients with other deep-seated infections (26 patients) or with an uncomplicated S. aureus bacteremia (15 patients). The patients with other serious gram-positive (40 patients) or gram-negative (23 patients) infections did not differ from the healthy control group. There were only three (7.5%) low-level crossreactions among the infections caused by gram-positive organisms other than S. aureus. Of 46 initially ribitol-teichoic acid antibody-negative patients followed up for 2 weeks or more, only those developing a serious S. aureus infection showed a significant rise of the ELISA reading. There was a good correlation between ELISA and counterimmunoelectrophoresis. Both tests could be useful in the diagnosis and the management of complicated S. aureus infections. The ELISA method is, however, more sensitive and usually reflects the antibody rise after an infection earlier than does counterimmunoelectrophoresis.

Increased serum IgG antibodies reactive with lipoteichoic acids in subjects with gingivitis

“…3). The results comply with those of Herzog et al (1984), who used ribitol-teichoic acids from S. aureus cells. The present findings also agree with the results of Mouton et al (1981), who found that serum antibody levels against Bacteroides gingivalis increased with advancing age until about 20 yr.…”

“…It may, however, be conjectured that oral conditions might somehow contribute to the variations observed in other reference groups; e.g. those utihzed in hospital studies of staphylococcal and streptococcal infections (Carruthers et al 1984, Herzog et al 1984. The present results suggested that this might indeed be the case.…”

“…Recently, Lopatin & Kessler (1985) showed that antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) could be focused against cultured LTA-coated target cells. Since ADCC effector cells are increased in number or activity in periodontitis (Tsoumis, Singh & Dolby 1985), and anti-LTA antibodies are ubiquitous in human sera (Herzog et al 1984), such unwanted combinations may contribute to the chronicity of persistent microbial infections.…”

Antibody Response Against Whole Staphylococcus Aureus In Patients With Staphylococcal Septicaemia and Endocarditis Investigated By ELISA

“…These problems can be overcome by using a whole cell ELISA where there is no need for antigen purification. The sensitivity of this method in diagnosing S. aureus endocarditis (84.2%) is well in accordance with other assays using purified S. aureus antigens like peptidoglycan (83% positive) (2) and teichoic acid (83-100% positive) (10,12,19) and higher than that of an assay measuring antibodies against staphylolysin (ASTA) (2). However, no differencies in antibody levels between patients with complicated and uncomplicated S. aureus septicaemia were ascertained.…”

“…A large number of serological assays for the diagnosis of serious S. aureus infections have been presented during the last decade most often using sensitive methods like RIA and ELISA. The cell wall antigens teichoic acid and peptidoglycan have been used most frequently (1, 3,10,12,14,16,17,18,19,21). A major problem is the lack of standardization in purifying the antigens.…”