Afipia clevelandensis antibodies and cross-reactivity with Brucella spp. and Yersinia enterocolitica O:9.
Afipia clevelandensis is a recently described gram-negative bacterium whose potential pathogenic role in human disease is under investigation. Only one strain, from the pretibial lesion of a patient hospitalized with necrotizing pancreatitis for 5 months, has been isolated. Using an indirect immunofluorescence assay to detect anti-A. clevelandensis antibodies, we found a seroprevalence of 1.5% among 30,194 sera routinely submitted for laboratory diagnosis of rickettsial diseases. However, among the 52 patients who were clinically evaluable and who exhibited detectable antibodies against A. clevelandensis, 42% were eventually diagnosed as certainly or probably having brucellosis and 15% were eventually diagnosed as certainly or probably having Yersinia enterocolitica O:9 infection, which is the serotype most often encountered in Europe. Western immunoblotting and cross-adsorption tests showed that an 11.5-kDa proteinase K-labile band and a 21-kDa proteinase-stable band, presumably lipopolysaccharide, were responsible for cross-reactivity among A. clevelandensis, Brucella abortus, and Y. enterocolitica O:9. Other diagnoses included nosocomial infections and various community-acquired diseases for which the role of A. clevelandensis remains undefined. Physicians and clinical microbiologists should be aware of this cross-reactivity in future assessments of the role of A. clevelandensis in human pathology.
Drancourt
M
M
Unité des Rickettsies, CNRS UPRESS-A 6020, Faculté de Médecine, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France.
Brouqui
P
P
Raoult
D
D
D000368:Aged; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002002:Brucella / Q000276:immunology; D002006:Brucellosis / Q000097:blood; D003429:Cross Reactions; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015009:Yersinia Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D015008:Yersinia enterocolitica / Q000276:immunology
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial