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Structure and function of streptococcal and staphylococcal superantigens in septic shock
J Bannan1, K Visvanathan, J B Zabriskie
1Department of Pathology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
Abstract:
The pyrogenic exotoxins of Group A Streptococci and enterotoxins of Staphylococcus aureus constitute a family of related toxins that acts as "superantigens" because of their ability to stimulate large numbers of T-cell subsets. These toxins have been implicated in gastrointestinal food poisoning, toxic shock syndromes, Gram-positive sepsis, and, possibly, septic shock. There is increasing evidence that Gram-positive infections frequently coexist in septic shock and that bacterial superantigens play a major role.
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