title: Antibodies to highly conserved peptide sequence of staphylococcal and streptococcal superantigens in Kawasaki disease.
abstract: Superantigen-mediated disease such as toxic shock syndrome is seen in patients who have a weak antibody response to the antigen toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1). We hypothesized that there may be deficiency in antibody production to staphylococcal and streptococcal toxins in Kawasaki disease (KD) children. A peptide was constructed from the homologous portion of the staphylococcal enterotoxins (SE) and streptococcal pyrogenic enterotoxins (SPE), and antibodies to the peptide were made. The anti-peptide antibody immunoblotted several of the SE toxins and SPE toxins. Presence of the peptide antibodies was investigated via ELISA in the sera of acute KD (n = 30), convalescent KD (n = 12), control adults (n = 10), and children (n = 19). The mean anti-peptide antibodies were indistinguishable between control children and KD before treatment with immunoglobulin (P = 0.7) but rose significantly after therapy (P < 0.01). The adults had significantly higher antibodies than the KD, both acute and late (P < 0.0001) and the control children (P < 0.0001). Thus, KD patients do not have a defective serological response against toxins such as SPE/SE/TSST-1. Normal children have significantly lower antitoxin antibody levels to the toxins compared to the adults.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Cardiology, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Cornell University, New York, NY 10021, USA. Monesha.gupta@uth.tmc.edu
authors.forename: Monesha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gupta-Malhotra
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Viteri-Jackson
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: John B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Zabriskie
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000276:immunology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007223:Infant; D009080:Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000276:immunology*; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000276:immunology*; D013291:Streptococcus / Q000276:immunology*; D018089:Superantigens / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D004768:Enterotoxins; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D018089:Superantigens