Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T13:05:17.276Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Immunoglobulin-coated bacteria on the tonsillar surface during infectious mononucleosis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

Lars-Eric Stenfors  and
Simo Räisänen
Lars-Eric Stenfors*
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, University Hospital of Tromsö, Tromsö, Norway
Simo Räisänen
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Laboratory, Central Hospital of Keski-Pohjanmaa, Kokkola, Finland
*
Address for correspondence: Lars-Eric Stenfors, M.D., Department of Otolaryngology, University Hospital of Tromsö, N-9038 Tromsö, Norway
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Sequential bacterial samples were obtained from the tonsillar surface of 19 consecutive patients (12 females, seven males; mean age 16.1 years, range four to 24 years) suffering from infectious mononucleosis with membranous tonsillitis. The specimens were examined with respect to aerobes (culture on blood and chocolate agar plates) and proportions of bacteria coated with immunoglobulins (secretory IgA, IgG, IgM) by using an immunofluorescence assay. In the early stage of the membranous tonsillitis phase, attachment of secretory IgA (SIgA) and IgG to the bacteria was greatly suppressed, as compared with healthy controls. Coating with IgM was evident only late in the membranous tonsillitis phase but was contracted and still evident even after the clinical throat symptoms had abated. The findings suggest that the B-lymphotropic Epstein-Barr virus, causative agent of infectious mononucleosis, exerts a transient suppression of immunoglobulin-coating of bacteria harboured on the tonsillar surfaces, with consequent abundant bacterial attachment to the epithelial cells and massive bacterial colonization on the palatine tonsils.

Keywords

Epstein-Barr virusImmunoglobulinsMucosal immunity
Type
Main Articles
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 110 , Issue 4 , April 1996 , pp. 339 - 342
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Besredka, A. (1919) De la vaccination contre les etats typhoides parla voie buccale. Annales de I'lnstitut Pasteur 882–903.Google Scholar
Brandtzaeg, P. (1992) Humoral immune response patterns of human mucosae: Induction and relation to bacterial respiratory tract infections. Journal of Infectious Diseases 165 (suppl 1): 167–176.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Epstein, M. A., Achong, B. A. (1977) Recent progress in Epstein-Barr virus research. Annual Review of Microbiology 31: 421–445.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Henle, G., Henle, W. (1970) Observations on childhood infections with Epstein-Barr virus. Journal of Infectious Diseases 121: 303–310.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoagland, R. J. (1960) The clinical manifestations of infectious mononucleosis. A report of two hundred cases. American Journal of Medical Sciences 55–62.Google ScholarPubMed
Kurono, Y., Shimamura, K., Shigemi, H., Mogi, G. (1991) Inhibition of bacterial adherence by nasopharyngeal secretions. Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology 100: 155–158.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laboratory outline for training course in principles and bacterial applications of fluorescent antibody techniques. (1978) U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia 3033, USA., pp 53–83.Google Scholar
McNabb, P. C., Tomasi, T. B. (1981) Host defence mechanisms at mucosal surfaces. Annual Review of Microbiology 35: 477–496.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nadal, D., Soh, N., Schlapfer, E. (1992) Distribution characteristics of immunoglobulin-secreting cells in adenoids. Relation to age and disease. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology 24: 121–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paul, J. R., Bunnell, W. W. (1932) The presence of heterophile antibodies in infectious mononucleosis. American Journal of Medical Sciences 91–104.Google Scholar
Schuster, V., Kreth, H. W. (1992) Epstein-Barr virus infection and associated diseases in children: Pathogenesis, epidemiology and clinical aspects. European Journal of Pediatrics 151: 718–725.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stenfors, L.-E., Räisänen, S. (1991) Secretory IgA- and IgG- coated bacteria in the nasopharynx of children. Acta Otolaryngologica 1139–1145.Google ScholarPubMed
Stenfors, L. -E., Raisanen, S. (1993) The membranous tonsillitis during infectious mononucleosis is nevertheless of bacterial origin. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology 149–155.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tomasi, T. B., Tan, E. M., Salomon, A., Prendergast, R. A. (1965) Characteristics of an immune system common to certain external secretions. Journal of Experimental Medicine 101–124.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williams, R. C., Gibbons, R. J. (1972) Inhibition of bacterial adherence by secretory immunoglobulin A: a mechanism of antigen disposal. Science 697–699.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed