Specific Human Antibodies to Enterotoxins A, B, and C1 of Staphylococcus: Their Increased Synthesis in Staphylococcal Infection

Abstract

Sera of healthy blood donors and of adult patients infected with Staphylococcus were tested for antibody to the highly purified enterotoxins A, B, and C₁. Patients were divided into the following clinical groups according to the symptoms and site of infection: (1) septicemia, (2) respiratory infections, (3) purulent skin lesions, and (4) wound infections. Specific antibody was demonstrated by immunodiffusion and immunoelectrophoresis. Precipitins associated with IgG were determined. The criteria of immune response to enterotoxin in man included the incidence, titer, and presence of single or multiple antibodies. Significant differences between frequency distribution of specific precipitins to enterotoxin in healthy men and that in infected patients were found. The antienterotoxic response was seen more often in patients with wound infections and in those with purulent skin lesions than in the other two groups. Comparison of immunologic findings in these patients with production of enterotoxin by staphylococci isolated from wounds and purulent skin lesions showed a marked correlation between the two sets of data from the same patients. This indicated that the parenterally released enterotoxin stimulated synthesis of antibody in the patients.