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Antigenic shift and increased incidence of meningococcal disease

Lee H Harrison1, Keith A Jolley, Kathleen A Shutt

  • 1Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. lharriso@edc.pitt.edu

The Journal of Infectious Diseases
|April 6, 2006
PubMed
Abstract

Insights

Antigenic shifts in outer membrane protein genes of Neisseria meningitidis serogroups C and Y are linked to increased disease incidence. These changes, possibly due to horizontal gene transfer, explain the rise in meningococcal disease.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Epidemiology
  • Immunology

Background:

  • Serogroup C and Y meningococcal disease incidence rose in the US during the 1990s.
  • The cyclical patterns of endemic meningococcal disease lack clear explanations.
  • This study investigated mechanisms driving the increased incidence of meningococcal disease.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To characterize the increasing incidence of invasive serogroup C and Y meningococcal disease.
  • To identify the molecular mechanisms, specifically antigenic shifts in outer membrane proteins (OMPs), associated with this rise.

Main Methods:

  • Population-based surveillance data from 1992-2001 were analyzed.
  • Isolates underwent multilocus sequence typing and antigen sequence typing of three OMP genes: porA (VRs 1 and 2), porB, and fetA (VR).

Main Results:

  • Antigenic shifts in OMPs correlated with increased meningococcal disease incidence for both serogroups.
  • Serogroup Y shifts involved amino acid substitutions in PorA, PorB, and FetA.
  • Serogroup C shifts included FetA substitutions and porA gene deletions, suggesting horizontal gene transfer.

Conclusions:

  • Antigenic shifts in OMP genes are associated with increased incidence of serogroup C and Y meningococcal disease.
  • Changes in serogroup Y involved all studied OMP genes.
  • Antigenic shift is a contributing factor to the rise in meningococcal disease incidence.

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