Naturally acquired functional antibody responses to group A Streptococcus differ between major strain types.

ABSTRACT: Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is a leading human pathogen for which there is no licensed vaccine. Infections are most common in young children and the elderly suggesting immunity accumulates with exposure until immune senescence in older age. Though protection has been postulated to be strain type specific, based on the M-protein (emm-type), the antigenic basis of population-level immunity remains poorly understood. Naturally acquired GAS antibody responses were investigated using intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), which contains pooled immunoglobulins from thousands of healthy human donors, as a surrogate for population immunity. Functional opsonophagocytic killing assays were conducted with GAS strains (n = 6) representing the three major emm-pattern types (e

SUBMITTER: McGregor R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10597462 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature