Serum opsonic capacity against Yersinia enterocolitica O:3 in yersiniosis patients with or without reactive arthritis.
The opsonic capacity of 45 sera from patients with reactive arthritis after Yersinia enterocolitica O:3 infection and of 45 matched sera from yersiniosis patients without post-infection complications was studied at 1-3 months, 5-8 months and 12-20 months after the onset of the infection. Antibody-mediated opsonization of virulence-plasmid-containing Y. enterocolitica O:3 was studied by measuring complement-fixation on opsonized bacteria and opsonophagocytic function of the polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN). The PMN response against bacteria pre-opsonized by heat-inactivated sera was measured by using a chemiluminescence (CL) assay. The fixation of complement Clq and C3 on bacteria was determined by flow cytometry using fluorescein-conjugated Clq- and C3c-antisera. All the sera were strongly opsonic at the onset of the infection, and this capacity persisted in most of the patients still at the end of the follow-up. No difference was observed in complement-fixing capacity between the sera of the two groups, but the sera from arthritic patients showed stronger augmentation of PMN CL response at the early phase of the infection (P = 0.005 in the presence of complement, P = 0.04 in the absence of complement). These results suggest that enhanced opsonic capacity may play a role in the development of Yersinia-triggered reactive arthritis by leading to strong activation of the PMN and, consequently, to release of inflammatory mediators.
Department of Medical Microbiology, Turku University, Finland.
R
R
Tertti
K
K
Granfors
R
R
Lahesmaa-Rantala
A
A
Toivanen
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology*; D001170:Arthritis, Infectious / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology*; D003168:Complement Fixation Tests; D006801:Humans; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000276:immunology; D009895:Opsonin Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D010587:Phagocytosis; D015009:Yersinia Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D015008:Yersinia enterocolitica / Q000276:immunology*
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D009895:Opsonin Proteins