[Immunological analysis of Streptococcus sanguis antigens]

The exact cause of Behçet's disease is still unknown. Recently, advanced bacterial studies revealed that Behçet's disease was related to Streptococcus (S.) sanguis. However, the antigenicity of S. sanguis has not been fully studied. In this study, we clarified the antigenicity of S. sanguis. We made S. sanguis antigens: Mechanical Braun Extract (MBE) and Crude Cell Wall (CCW) from the whole cells, Membrane Fraction (MF) and Cytoplasmic Fraction (CF) from MBE, Cell Wall Fragment (CWF) and Lipoteichoic acid (LTA) from MBE. We found that the major antigenicity of S. sanguis was present in CF by use of the Ouchterlony method and the ELISA method. However, apart from S. pyogenes, we could not recognize a common antigenicity among S. sanguis and several other antigens, such as S-Ag, IRBP, retinal soluble fraction, retinal insoluble fraction and Enterococcus faecalis, by the Ouchterlony method. Since we have clarified the antigenicity of S. sanguis in this study, we can now perform detailed examinations with samples from patients with Behçet's disease for S. sanguis antigens.