Serotyping of Campylobacter jejuni by slide agglutination based on heat-labile antigenic factors

Abstract

A serotyping scheme for Campylobacter jejuni was developed based on slide agglutination of live bacteria with whole cell antisera absorbed with homologous heated and heterologous unheated cross-reactive antigens. Among 815 isolates from human and nonhuman sources, 21 serogroups were recognized. Of the 615 isolates from human cases of gastroenteritis, 529 (86%) were typable; 455 strains agglutinated in 20 single antisera, whereas 74 isolates agglutinated in various pairs of antisera, allowing subdivision of some main serogroups into subserogroups. Of the 200 isolates of C. jejuni from nonhuman sources (chicken, swine, etc.), 166 (83%) were typable, 145 cultures agglutinated in various single antisera, and 21 strains agglutinated with different pairs of antisera. Among isolates from all sources, 8 serogroups (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 11) were encountered most frequently. Serogroups 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, and 11 were most common among human isolates; the majority of the chicken and all of the swine isolates belonged to the same serogroups identified from human cases. Very good serological correlation was obtained in 20 family outbreaks and 4 community outbreaks.

Scientific Opinion on Quantification of the risk posed by broiler meat to human campylobacteriosis in the EU

“…Serotyping, based on heat-labile antigens (HL) (Lior et al, 1982) or heat-stable antigens (HS) (Penner and Hennessy, 1980), and phagetyping (Grajewski et al, 1985;Frost et al, 1999;Patton et al, 1991) have been the main phenotypic methods applied separately or in combination. As well as being technically demanding, poor and variable typeability (the proportion of isolates for which a subtype can be determined) is inherent to the serotyping methods applied to C. jejuni .…”

Campylobacter, from obscurity to celebrity

“…Reports from industrialised countries, including European countries [19][20][21]24,[30][31][32][33], Canada [34] and the USA [35], and from developing countries, including Zaire [23] and Rwanda [36], have shown that Campylobacter enteritis occurs worldwide. In 1979, the first full account of Campylobacter enteritis in man was published [37], and in the 1980s Penner and Hennessy [38] and Lior et al [39] described serotyping techniques that, aided by biotyping, phage typing and genotyping, still form the basis of strain typing. It was not until the mid-1980s that C. jejuni was recognised as the most frequent cause of bacterial enterocolitis in man.…”

Surface components of Campylobacter and Helicobacter

“…It is also well established that the¯agellar antigen contributes signi®cantly to antigenic diversity among strains of C. jejuni, although not in H. pylori. The antigenic diversity in C. jejuni¯agella is thought to be the main active element in the typing scheme utilizing heat-labile antigens known as the Lior scheme (Lior et al 1982). Molecular data support this view; agellin sequences show that there is considerable interstrain diversity, especially in the central region of the FlaA¯agellin proteins, and indeed¯agellin gene polymorphisms have also been proposed as a basis for molecular typing.…”