title: Sensitive and specific detection of staphylococcal epidermolysins A and B in broth cultures by flow cytometry-assisted multiplex immunoassay.
abstract: Two of the most common bacterial skin infections of young infants and children are bullous impetigo due to Staphylococcus aureus and its more acute form, staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome. Epidermolysin A (ETA), ETB and, possibly, ETD are responsible for these diseases, which may appear as epidemics in pediatric patients. We tested the reliability of a flow cytometry-assisted multiplex immunoassay (Bio-Plex system) for the detection of ETA and ETB. The Bio-Plex system was found to be highly specific and highly sensitive for toxin concentrations of between 2 and 80,000 pg/ml. The results of this assay were 100% identical to the results of a PCR-based method. We demonstrated that this test did not generate any cross-reactions with ETD-producing isolates. The level of detection of ETB by this test differed according to culture conditions and from isolate to isolate; these results must be taken into account for diagnostic purposes.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Bactériologie de la Faculté de Médecine de Strasbourg, 3 Rue Koeberlé, F-67000 Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Joubert
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pinck
authors.forename: Henri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Monteil
authors.forename: Gilles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Prévost
mesh_terms: D005083:Exfoliatins / Q000032:analysis*; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000379:methods*; D007118:Immunoassay; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D005083:Exfoliatins