Antibody Response to Chlamydia pneumoniae Infection in Children with Respiratory Illness

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases 1998-03, Vol.177 (3), p.720-724
• Main Authors: Kutlin, Andrei, Roblin, Patricia M., Hammerschlag, Margaret R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Antibodies; Antibodies, Bacterial - blood; Antibody formation; Antigens; Asthma; Bacterial diseases; Bacterial diseases of the respiratory system; Bacterial Proteins - immunology; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Chlamydia; Chlamydia Infections - diagnosis; Chlamydia Infections - immunology; Chlamydophila pneumoniae; Chlamydophila pneumoniae - immunology; Chlamydophila pneumoniae - isolation & purification; Clinical Trials as Topic; Fluorescent Antibody Technique; Human bacterial diseases; Humans; Immunoblotting; Infections; Infectious diseases; Major Articles; Medical sciences; Pneumonia; Respiratory tract infections; Respiratory Tract Infections - diagnosis; Respiratory Tract Infections - immunology; Retrospective Studies
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1086/514223

Serologic diagnosis of Chlamydia pneumoniae infection has been based on the microimmunofluorescence test (MIF). However, recent prospective studies in children have found that >50% infected with C. pneumoniae failed to develop any antibodies detectable by MIF. In this study, single sera from 46 culture-positive and 42 culture-negative children with respiratory infection and known MIF status were examined by immunoblotting. Forty-one (89.1%) of the single sera from culture-positive and 27 (64.3%) from culture-negative children reacted to C. pneumoniae antigens in immunoblot. C. pneumoniae proteins most frequently recognized by sera from culture-positive patients were at 101–102, 72–76, 50–52, 48–49, 43–44, 41–42, and 30–31 kDa. However, there did not appear to be a correlation of specific band patterns and culture status.