Increase in immunoglobulin M antibodies against gut bacteria during acute hepatitis A.

Infection and Immunity
H F MillerR Thomssen

Abstract

The marked increase in the total serum immunoglobulin M (IgM) is a characteristic feature of acute hepatitis A. To study the nature of this IgM, we assayed serial titers of IgM antibodies against various antigens during and after acute hepatitis A. The antibodies against blood group antigen remained unchanged throughout the observation period. Thus, the production or metabolism of IgM was not nonspecifically altered. The IgM antibody against hepatitis A antigen decreased and finally disappeared during convalescence as expected. However, its time course did not correlate quantitatively with the concentration of the total serum IgM. In contrast, IgM antibodies against gut bacteria Bacteroides fragilis and Streptococcus faecalis were considerably elevated in all patients at the onset of the disease, and they normalized similarly to the total IgM during convalescence. IgM antibodies against Escherichia coli were elevated only in some of the patients. The data suggest that the amount of IgM antibodies against gut bacteria contributes significantly to the increase in the total serum IgM in acute hepatitis A.

References

Jan 8, 1972·Lancet·D R TrigerR Wright
Jun 30, 1973·Lancet·D R Triger, R Wright
Feb 1, 1972·The Journal of Infectious Diseases·S Iwarson, J Holmgren

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Oct 1, 1986·Journal of Clinical Pathology·H MüllerH J Stutte
Oct 1, 1986·Journal of Clinical Pathology·R SciotV J Desmet
Oct 24, 1985·The New England Journal of Medicine·S M Lemon
Jun 5, 2013·The Journal of Immunology : Official Journal of the American Association of Immunologists·Seokchan HongEui-Cheol Shin
Mar 1, 1985·Journal of Medical Virology·M RoggendorfE Tabor
Jan 1, 1994·Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases·K RitterR Thomssen
Aug 1, 1990·Clinical Pediatrics·C MullerM M Eibl

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Antibody Specificity

Antibodies produced by B cells are highly specific for antigen as a result of random gene recombination and somatic hypermutation and affinity maturation. As the main effector of the humoral immune system, antibodies can neutralize foreign cells. Find the latest research on antibody specificity here.