Natural IgM antibodies in the immune defence against neoehrlichiosisShow others and affiliations
2017 (English)In: Infectious Diseases, ISSN 2374-4235, E-ISSN 2374-4243, Vol. 49, no 11, p. 809-816Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Background: Neoehrlichiosis is an infectious disease caused by the tick-borne bacterium ?Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis?. Splenectomy and rituximab therapies are risk factors for severe neoehrlichiosis. Our aim was to examine if neoehrlichiosis patients had low levels of natural IgM antibodies and/or were hypogammaglobulinemic, and if such deficiencies were associated with asplenia and vascular complications.
Methods: Neoehrlichiosis patients (n?=?9) and control subjects (n?=?10) were investigated for serum levels of IgG, IgA, and IgM, and for levels of natural IgM antibodies to pneumococcal polysaccharides (6B, 14), and to the malondialdehyde acetaldehyde epitope of oxidized LDL. The multivariate method Projection to Latent Structures was used to analyze the data.
Results: The levels of natural IgM antibodies of various specificities were decreased or not measurable in half of the studied patients with neoehrlichiosis. Only one patient and one control subject were hypogammaglobulinemic. An inverse relationship was noted between the levels of natural IgM antibodies and the development of deep vein thrombosis. Unexpectedly, no association was seen between having or not having a spleen and the levels of natural IgM antibody levels in the circulation.
Conclusions: Neither hypogammaglobulinemia nor lack of natural IgM antibodies alone predisposes for severe neoehrlichiosis. The importance of the spleen in the immune defence against Ca. N. mikurensis probably lies in its capacity to generate or maintain specific antibodies.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Taylor & Francis, 2017. Vol. 49, no 11, p. 809-816
Keywords [en]
Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis, natural IgM antibodies, malondialdehyde acetaldehyde epitope, pneumococci
National Category
Infectious Medicine
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-139739DOI: 10.1080/23744235.2017.1347815ISI: 000408792600004PubMedID: 28682152Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85022013697OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-139739DiVA, id: diva2:1131500
Note
Funding agencies: Swedish Cancer and Allergy Foundation [149781]; ALF Project grant [71580]; Vastra Gotaland Research and Development grant [94510]; Swedish Cancer Association; National Institute for Health Research UK
2017-08-142017-08-142017-09-22Bibliographically approved