SEROLOGY OF NEISSERIA GONORRHOEAE. CLASSIFICATION BY CO‐AGGLUTINATION

Abstract

The co‐agglutination (COA) method has been adapted for serological classification of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. COA reagents were prepared with selectively absorbed rabbit hyperimmune antibodies against gonoccal (GC) major outer membrane protein (MOMP) serotype strains. Using these reagents, the 16 MOMP reference strains could be referred to at least three antigen classes, tentatively named W, J and M. The GC antigens of class W were divided into three groups I, II and III, and they were in part sensitive to pronase. The antigens of class J reflected strain specific or serotype reactions, some sensitive and others resistant to proteolytic enzymes. The antigens of class M were sensitive to periodate and resistant to pronase. Strains used in serological studies by other authors were tested. The properties of class W correlated well with those of the so‐called micro‐immunofluorescence and immunotype systems, and class M with those of the so‐called endotoxin and acid polysaccharide systems. Strains from three different laboratories could all be grouped by class W and M reagents. Identical strains obtained independently from different laboratories gave very similar reaction patterns with the reagents available. Repeated GC‐isolates from patients infected with beta‐lactamase producing strains showed stable reactions with class W and J reagents, while there was a time‐related variation of the class M pattern. We have found that the COA method is rapid, easy and reproducible in the serological classification of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and all the 117 GC‐strains tested could be classified.

Review and International Recommendation of Methods for Typing Neisseria gonorrhoeae Isolates and Their Implications for Improved Knowledge of Gonococcal Epidemiology, Treatment, and Biology

“…During the 1980s and 1990s, auxotype (A) and serovar (S) determination were combined to determine the A/S classes of isolates as a typing method ( Table 1). The combination of these two methods provides a relatively (139) for detecting interactions between gonococcal antigens and panels of specific monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) (76). Two major schemes based on MAbs were developed: the Genetic Systems (GS) panel (80,157) and the Pharmacia (Ph) panel (140,141).…”

Introduction to The Evolution of Infectious Agents in Relation to Sex

“…An early result of our interactions was a three‐day symposium, “Genital Infections and Their Complications,” held in Stockholm in 1974—organized by DD and in which AN participated 4 . Our laboratory and epidemiological interests prompted each of us to apply established and new technologies to various basic and practical issues that focused on the separation of bacterial and viral agents into types and subtypes, for example, as exemplified by DD's serological differentiation of gonococci 5 and AN's differentiation of herpes simplex viruses into type 1 and type 2 6 . The evolutionary perspective uniting the 70+ herpesviruses in animals and humans was expanded to all known viruses in a comprehensive review entitled “The Evolution of Viruses,” 7 written by AN in 1977 together with Darryl Reanney, an Australian molecular biologist, and further developed at several workshops at the International Congresses of Virology in the 1970s and 1980s.…”

SEROLOGY OF NEISSERIA GONORRHOEAE. DEMONSTRATION BY CO‐AGGLUTINATION AND IMMUNOELECTROPHORESIS OF ANTIGENIC DIFFERENCES ASSOCIATED WITH COLOUR/OPACITY COLONIAL VARIANTS

“…Eighty-five gonococcal (GC) strains were included in the present study, 27 of which were represented by the 16 major outer membrane protein (MOMP) serotype strains (designations, see Table I Wang et al ( I 4) and the three strains 670, SOA and P9, all of which were used by us in our previous serological studies of GC ( 3 , 10). Fifty-eight strains were unselected clinical isolates from male and female patients attending the out-patient departments for veneral diseases at Central County Hospital, Orebro, and at Sodersjukhuset, Stockholm, Sweden (34 of the strains were from two or three urogenital and/or rectal sites in 14 patients).…”