This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hedges, S. R.
Right arrow Articles by Russell, M. W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Hedges, S. R.
Right arrow Articles by Russell, M. W.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, August 1999, p. 3937-3946, Vol. 67, No. 8
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Limited Local and Systemic Antibody Responses to Neisseria gonorrhoeae during Uncomplicated Genital Infections

Spencer R. Hedges,1,* Matthew S. Mayo,2 Jiri Mestecky,1,3 Edward W. Hook III,3 and Michael W. Russell1

Departments of Microbiology1 and Medicine,3 The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, and Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas2

Received 16 February 1999/Returned for modification 16 April 1999/Accepted 28 April 1999

Repeated infections with Neisseria gonorrhoeae are common among patients attending sexually transmitted disease clinics. We examined whether previous infections or site of infection altered the local and systemic antigonococcal antibody levels in males and females. Antibodies against N. gonorrhoeae MS11 and the patients' homologous infecting isolates were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In general, the local and systemic immune responses to gonococci were extremely modest. There was a slight increase in serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) against the MS11 strain and the homologous isolates in infected males. Levels of serum IgA1 antibodies against MS11 were slightly higher in infected than in uninfected females. A history of previous infections with N. gonorrhoeae did not alter the antibody levels in patients with a current infection, suggesting that immunological memory is not induced by uncomplicated gonococcal infections. Antibody responses to infected subjects' homologous isolates were observed in cervical mucus; IgA1 levels increased while IgG levels decreased. The decline in mucosal IgG against the homologous isolates was less common in subjects having both rectal and cervical infections; otherwise, no effect of rectal involvement was observed. The absence of substantially higher antibody levels to gonococci where there is infection at a site known to contain organized lymphoid tissue suggests that the low levels of responses to uncomplicated infections may not be due simply to an absence of inductive sites in the genital tract. We propose that in addition to its potential ability to avoid the effects of an immune response, N. gonorrhoeae does not elicit strong humoral immune responses during uncomplicated genital infections.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, BBRB Box 1, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 845 19th St. South, Birmingham, AL 35294-2170. Phone: (205) 934-1233. Fax: (205) 934-3894. E-mail: medm136{at}uabdpo.dpo.uab.edu.

Infection and Immunity, August 1999, p. 3937-3946, Vol. 67, No. 8
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Duncan, J. A., Gao, X., Huang, M. T.-H., O'Connor, B. P., Thomas, C. E., Willingham, S. B., Bergstralh, D. T., Jarvis, G. A., Sparling, P. F., Ting, J. P.-Y. (2009). Neisseria gonorrhoeae Activates the Proteinase Cathepsin B to Mediate the Signaling Activities of the NLRP3 and ASC-Containing Inflammasome. J. Immunol. 182: 6460-6469 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Imarai, M., Candia, E., Rodriguez-Tirado, C., Tognarelli, J., Pardo, M., Perez, T., Valdes, D., Reyes-Cerpa, S., Nelson, P., Acuna-Castillo, C., Maisey, K. (2008). Regulatory T Cells Are Locally Induced during Intravaginal Infection of Mice with Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Infect. Immun. 76: 5456-5465 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lee, H. S. W., Ostrowski, M. A., Gray-Owen, S. D. (2008). CEACAM1 Dynamics during Neisseria gonorrhoeae Suppression of CD4+ T Lymphocyte Activation. J. Immunol. 180: 6827-6835 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hansen, J. K., Demick, K. P., Mansfield, J. M., Forest, K. T. (2007). Conserved Regions from Neisseria gonorrhoeae Pilin Are Immunosilent and Not Immunosuppressive. Infect. Immun. 75: 4138-4147 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Moldoveanu, Z., Huang, W.-Q., Kulhavy, R., Pate, M. S., Mestecky, J. (2005). Human Male Genital Tract Secretions: Both Mucosal and Systemic Immune Compartments Contribute to the Humoral Immunity. J. Immunol. 175: 4127-4136 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Pantelic, M., Kim, Y.-J., Bolland, S., Chen, I., Shively, J., Chen, T. (2005). Neisseria gonorrhoeae Kills Carcinoembryonic Antigen-Related Cellular Adhesion Molecule 1 (CD66a)-Expressing Human B Cells and Inhibits Antibody Production. Infect. Immun. 73: 4171-4179 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Edwards, J. L., Apicella, M. A. (2004). The Molecular Mechanisms Used by Neisseria gonorrhoeae To Initiate Infection Differ between Men and Women. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 17: 965-981 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Schmitter, T., Agerer, F., Peterson, L., Munzner, P., Hauck, C. R. (2004). Granulocyte CEACAM3 Is a Phagocytic Receptor of the Innate Immune System that Mediates Recognition and Elimination of Human-specific Pathogens. JEM 199: 35-46 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Price, G. A., Hobbs, M. M., Cornelissen, C. N. (2004). Immunogenicity of Gonococcal Transferrin Binding Proteins during Natural Infections. Infect. Immun. 72: 277-283 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wu, H.-Y., Abdu, S., Stinson, D., Russell, M. W. (2000). Generation of Female Genital Tract Antibody Responses by Local or Central (Common) Mucosal Immunization. Infect. Immun. 68: 5539-5545 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»