Human antibody response to the major adhesin of Mycoplasma pneumoniae: Increase in titers against synthetic peptides in patients with pneumonia

Abstract

Hirschberg, L., Holme, T. & A. Krook. Human antibody response to the major adhesin of Mycoplasma pneumoniae: Increase in titers against synthetic peptides in patients with pneumonia. APMIS 99: 5 15-520, 199 1.Peptides corresponding to parts of the P1 protein (major adhesin) of Mycoplasma pneumoniae were synthesized. On the basis of predicted antigenicity, seven sequences containing 17 to 21 amino acids were selected. In addition, one peptide containing a sequence of 13 amino acids shown to be related to cytadherence of M . pneumoniae was included. Serum samples from 56 patients with pneumonia were tested for a rise in titers of specific IgG during infection, using the peptides as coating antigens in ELISA. A titer rise against one or more peptides was observed in 10 out of 13 patients with serological evidence of mycoplasmal etiology. Specific antibodies to two or more peptides were demonstrated in three patients, whereas seven patients responded to one peptide only. In the sera from patients with pneumonia of non-mycoplasmal etiology, no titer rises above the cut-off level were observed. Our results indicate that a combination of four peptides would be possible for use as antigen for serological diagnosis of infections with M . pneumoniae.

Mycoplasma pneumoniaeand Its Role as a Human Pathogen

“…EIAs are more sensitive for detecting acute infection than culture and can be comparable in sensitivity to PCR, provided that a sufficient time has elapsed since infection for antibody to develop and that the patient has a functional immune system. Crude multiantigen preparations, purified proteins (including the P1 adhesin), -capture approaches, purified glycolipids, and synthetic peptides have all been used as targets (22,64,116,190,191,203,303,399,425,445). Patient sera are incubated with the solid-phase antigen, and bound antibodies are visualized by using substrate and enzyme-labeled conjugates directed against the primary antibody.…”

Epidemiology of Mycoplasma pneumoniae Infections in Japan and Therapeutic Strategies for Macrolide-Resistant M. pneumoniae

“…P1 cytadhesin is one of the major antigens of M. pneumoniae that induce antibody production. Indeed, the anti-P1 antibody is frequently detected in the sera of M. pneumoniae pneumonia patients ( Hirschberg et al, 1991 ; Razin and Jacobs, 1992 ; Rastawicki et al, 1996 ; Tuuminen et al, 2001 ). Since the P1 protein exhibits amino acid sequence polymorphism between the type 1 and 2 lineages, there was a possibility that P1 proteins of types 1 and 2 have different immunogenicity and induce specific antibodies during infection.…”

“…It has been reported that M. pneumoniae pneumonia patient sera exhibit inhibitory activity toward the adsorption of red blood cells to M. pneumoniae colonies [i.e., hemadsorption (HA) inhibitory activity; Hirschberg et al, 1991 ; Razin and Jacobs, 1992 ; Rastawicki et al, 1996 ; Tuuminen et al, 2001 ; Schurwanz et al, 2009 ]. Thus, we examined the HA inhibitory activity of the patient sera analyzed by western blotting in Figure 5B , and the results are shown in Table 2 .…”

Performance of Meridian ImmunoCard Mycoplasma test in a multicenter clinical trial

“…M. pneumoniae is difficult to culture and is not normally detectable in bronchial secretions (4); thus, serology is the principal method of laboratory diagnosis. M. pneumoniae has both lipid (7) and protein (5) antigens which elicit antibody responses in clinical infections. During the 1960s and 1970s, clinical laboratories used complement-fixing (CF) antibodies to M. pneumoniae or the presence of cold agglutinins to aid in diagnosing this infection (6).…”