Role of Staphylococcal Superantigens in Airway Disease

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus is a common human pathogen, which is regularly part of the normal microflora found in the nose and skin. It represents a significant threat to human health, not in the least because of its capability to produce exotoxins, which have superantigenic properties. These exotoxins, in particular the staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs), are known to be involved in the modulation and aggravation of airway inflammation. Indeed, recent studies show an important impact of SEs on the natural course of allergic rhinitis, nasal polyposis, asthma and COPD. This review outlines the current knowledge on the influence of SEs on airway inflammation. We highlight, in particular, the recent evidence on their role in asthma.

Allergic disease and Staphylococcus aureus carriage in adolescents in the Arctic region of Norway

“…Some studies indicate that Staphylococcus aureus toxins are involved in allergic inflammation (5)(6)(7)(8). The nose, throat and skin are the major sites of S. aureus carriage (9).…”

Advances in allergen-microarray technology for diagnosis and monitoring of allergy: The MeDALL allergen-chip

“…Table 1 provides an overview of the molecules contained on the MeDALL allergen-chip and information regarding allergen-sources, if proteins were purified from extracts (natural allergens) or produced in expression systems (recombinant), if they are glycosylated and to which protein family they belong. Two versions of the chip have been made, one which contains a collection of enterotoxins from Staphylococcus aureus involved in respiratory allergies [44] and another comprising an extended panel of antigens relevant for hypersensitivity to wheat [29,30,[45][46][47]. Considering the poor quality of natural house dust mite allergen extracts, we aimed to implement a panel of purified house dust mite allergens that is as complete as possible [48][49][50].…”

Nasal Mucous Membrane Microflora in Patients With Polypous Rhinosinusitis

“…В этом плане перспективным представляется подход, основанный на регист-рации и анализе у изолируемых штаммов ком-плекса биологических свойств, направленных на инактивацию факторов естественной про-тивоинфекционной защиты макроорганизма и обозначаемые как маркеры бактериальной персистенции. К факторам патогенности ста-филококков относят продуцируемые ими фер-менты и токсины [14,15]. В работе были изучены такие биохимические свойства, как гемолитиче-ская, лецитиназная, липазная, фибринолитиче-ская активность и способность продуцировать коллагеназу.…”

“…Золотистый стафилококк часто сочетается со стрептококками и пневмококками, являясь обычно выражением смешанной инфекции. Полученные нами положительные корреляци-онные взаимосвязи между этими представите-лями это подтверждают [14].…”