title: Distinctive patterns in the human antibody response to Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia in carriers and non-carriers.
abstract: Staphylococcus aureus is both a prominent cause of nosocomial infections with significant morbidity and mortality and a commensal with nasal carriage in around 30% of the population. The rapid spread of multi-resistant strains necessitates novel therapeutic strategies, a challenging task because the species S. aureus and the host response against it are highly variable. In a prospective study among 2023 surgical and non-surgical patients, 12 patients developed S. aureus bacteremia. They were analysed in detail using a personalized approach. For each patient, the extracellular proteins of the infecting S. aureus strain were identified and the developing antibody response was assessed on 2-D immunoblots. S. aureus carriers showed clear evidence of strain-specific pre-immunization. In all immune-competent bacteremia patients, antibody binding increased strongly, in most cases already at diagnosis. In endogenous infections, the pattern of antibody binding was similar to the pre-infection pattern. In exogenous infections, in contrast, the pre-infection pattern was radically altered with the acquisition of new specificities. These were characteristic for individual patients. Nevertheless, a common signature of 11 conserved S. aureus proteins, recognized in at least half of the bacteremic patients, was identified. All patients mounted a dynamic antibody response to a subset of these proteins.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Immunology and Transfusion Medicine, University of Greifswald, Fleischmannstrasse 42-44, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kolata
authors.forename: Lonneke G M
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Bode
authors.forename: Silva
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Holtfreter
authors.forename: Leif
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Steil
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kusch
authors.forename: Birte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Holtfreter
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Albrecht
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hecker
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Engelmann
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van Belkum
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Völker
authors.forename: Barbara M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Bröker
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000917:Antibody Formation; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D020543:Proteome / Q000276:immunology; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D020543:Proteome