Journal
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE
Volume 195, Issue 3, Pages 359-365Publisher
ROCKEFELLER UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1084/jem.20011576
Keywords
Streptococcus pneumoniae; vaccine; carriage; colonization; pneumococcal surface protein A
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Funding
- NIAID NIH HHS [AI38436, AI44231, N01-AI-65298, N01AI65298, R01 AI044231, R21 AI044231] Funding Source: Medline
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Colonization of the nasopharynx is the initial step in all infections caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae. The antibody response to carriage was examined in an experimental model of human colonization in healthy adults. Asymptomatic colonization was detected in 6/14 subjects and continued for up to 122 d. Susceptibility to carriage did not correlate with total serum immunoglobulin (Ig)G to the homotypic capsular polysaccharide. All of the colonized subjects, in contrast, developed a serum IgG and secretory IgA response to a 22 kD protein, whereas 7 of 8 subjects who did not become colonized had preexisting antibody to this protein. Analysis of the 22 kD protein identified it as the NH2-terminal region of pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA). Our findings provide evidence for the role of antibody to this protein fragment in preventing pneumococcal carriage by humans.
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