title: Molecular and serological diversity of Neisseria meningitidis carrier strains isolated from Italian students aged 14 to 22 years.
abstract: Neisseria meningitidis is an obligate human commensal that commonly colonizes the oropharyngeal mucosa. Carriage is age dependent and very common in young adults. The relationships between carriage and invasive disease are not completely understood. In this work, we performed a longitudinal carrier study in adolescents and young adults (173 subjects). Overall, 32 subjects (18.5%) had results that were positive for meningococcal carriage in at least one visit (average monthly carriage rate, 12.1%). Only five subjects tested positive at all four visits. All meningococcal isolates were characterized by molecular and serological techniques. Multilocus sequence typing, PorA typing, and sequencing of the 4CMenB vaccine antigens were used to assess strain diversity. The majority of positive subjects were colonized by capsule null (34.4%) and capsular group B strains (28.1%), accounting for 23.5% and 29.4% of the total number of isolates, respectively. The fHbp and nhba genes were present in all isolates, while the nadA gene was present in 5% of the isolates. The genetic variability of the 4CMenB vaccine antigens in this collection was relatively high compared with that of other disease-causing strain panels. Indications about the persistence of the carriage state were limited to the time span of the study. All strains isolated from the same subject were identical or cumulated minor changes over time. The expression levels and antigenicities of the 4CMenB vaccine antigens in each strain were analyzed by the meningococcal antigen typing system (MATS), which revealed that expression can change over time in the same individual. Future analysis of antigen variability and expression in carrier strains after the introduction of the MenB vaccine will allow for a definition of its impact on nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal carriage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy gasparini@unige.it panatto@unige.it.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gasparini
authors.affiliation: Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Comanducci
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Amicizia
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ansaldi
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Canepa
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Orsi
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Giancarlo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Icardi
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Emanuela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rizzitelli
authors.affiliation: Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Angelis
authors.affiliation: Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bambini
authors.affiliation: Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moschioni
authors.affiliation: Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Comandi
authors.affiliation: Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Isabella
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Simmini
authors.affiliation: Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Giueseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Boccadifuoco
authors.affiliation: Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Brunella
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brunelli
authors.affiliation: Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Marzia Monica
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Giuliani
authors.affiliation: Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Mariagrazia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pizza
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy gasparini@unige.it panatto@unige.it.
authors.forename: Donatella
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Panatto
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008589:Meningococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D058889:Molecular Typing; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009960:Oropharynx / Q000382:microbiology; D012703:Serotyping; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D004269:DNA, Bacterial