Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
6
pubmed:dateCreated
1993-7-26
pubmed:abstractText
Patients with defects of terminal complement components are particularly exposed to the risk of developing neisserial infections and seem to respond poorly to meningococcal capsular polysaccharide (PS) C via natural immunization. The sole meningococcal PSC is, on the other hand, an excellent immunogen in normal people. Considering the great importance of vaccine prophylaxis for the prevention of meningococcal infections in patients with complement defects, it is crucial to study the antibody response to the sole meningococcal PS in these patients. We therefore analysed the levels of anti-PSA and PSC antibodies in the members of four families including patients with homozygous and heterozygous defects of C7, C8 or factor H, before and after vaccination with the sole PSA + C. Surprisingly, we found the highest levels of antibodies before vaccination in homozygous subjects, followed by heterozygous and normal controls, whereas, after vaccination, homozygous subjects showed the lowest increase of specific antibodies, indicating their relative incapability to respond to sole meningococcal PS. In conclusion, this study demonstrates (1) the capacity to respond to meningococcal PS via natural immunization by patients with total complement defects, and (2) the low responsiveness to meningococcal PS via vaccine immunization by the same patients. We propose that vaccination should be given to patients lacking specific antibodies and their serological response should be assessed. In addition this study confirms previous observations on a likely lower immunogenic power of meningococcal serogroup C via natural immunization compared with the better immunogenicity of the sole PSC.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jun
pubmed:issn
0300-9475
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
37
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
644-50
pubmed:dateRevised
2005-11-17
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed-meshheading:8316762-Adolescent, pubmed-meshheading:8316762-Adult, pubmed-meshheading:8316762-Antibodies, Bacterial, pubmed-meshheading:8316762-Antibody Formation, pubmed-meshheading:8316762-Antibody Specificity, pubmed-meshheading:8316762-Child, pubmed-meshheading:8316762-Complement C7, pubmed-meshheading:8316762-Complement C8, pubmed-meshheading:8316762-Complement Factor H, pubmed-meshheading:8316762-Female, pubmed-meshheading:8316762-Heterozygote, pubmed-meshheading:8316762-Homozygote, pubmed-meshheading:8316762-Humans, pubmed-meshheading:8316762-Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes, pubmed-meshheading:8316762-Male, pubmed-meshheading:8316762-Middle Aged, pubmed-meshheading:8316762-Neisseria meningitidis, pubmed-meshheading:8316762-Pedigree, pubmed-meshheading:8316762-Polysaccharides, Bacterial, pubmed-meshheading:8316762-Time Factors, pubmed-meshheading:8316762-Vaccination
pubmed:year
1993
pubmed:articleTitle
Antibody response to meningococcal polysaccharides A and C in patients with complement defects.
pubmed:affiliation
Aeronautica Militare Italiana, DASRS, Laboratorio di Immunologia, Pratica di Mare, Roma.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article