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Detection of teichoic acid antibodies in children with staphylococcal infections
Insights
Detecting serum antibodies to teichoic acid can help diagnose deep staphylococcal infections. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) shows higher accuracy than gel diffusion for identifying these serious infections.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Infectious Diseases
- Clinical Diagnostics
Background:
- Staphylococcal infections, particularly deep-seated ones, pose significant diagnostic challenges.
- Serum antibodies to teichoic acid are potential biomarkers for staphylococcal infections.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the diagnostic utility of serum antibodies to teichoic acid in various staphylococcal infections.
- To compare the effectiveness of gel diffusion and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in detecting these antibodies.
Main Methods:
- Serum samples from patients with deep-seated staphylococcal infections, superficial staphylococcal infections, other Gram-positive infections, and healthy controls were analyzed.
- Gel diffusion and ELISA were employed to detect and quantify teichoic acid antibodies.
- Titers were correlated with infection status and type.
Main Results:
- Gel diffusion detected teichoic acid antibodies in a limited number of patients with deep-seated staphylococcal infections.
- ELISA demonstrated significantly higher concentrations of teichoic acid antibodies in patients with deep-seated staphylococcal infections compared to other groups.
- A titer of 1:3200 or greater using ELISA showed 93% sensitivity and 89% specificity for deep-seated Staphylococcus aureus infections in children.
Conclusions:
- ELISA is a more sensitive method than gel diffusion for detecting teichoic acid antibodies in staphylococcal infections.
- Serum teichoic acid antibody levels, particularly when measured by ELISA, can serve as a valuable diagnostic marker for deep-seated staphylococcal infections.
Abstract:
The presence of serum antibodies to teichoic acid was evaluated by gel diffusion and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 14 patients with deep-seated staphylococcal infection, in 5 patients with superficial staphylococcal infections, in 10 patients with Gram-positive infections other than staphylococcal and in 12 age-matched, uninfected patients. Serum samples were obtained on admission and serially each week during hospitalization. Teichoic acid antibodies were detected by gel diffusion in only 5 of 14 patients with deep-seated staphylococcal infections, in 1 of 10 patients with other Gram-positive infections and in none of the other patients. With the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method all patients with deep-seated staphylococcal infections had concentrations of teichoic acid antibodies of 1:1600 or greater, and these titers were significantly larger than those in the other groups of patients. Using a titer of 1:3200 or greater as a diagnostic level in children with deep-seated Staphylococcus aureus infections, the sensitivity was 93% and the specificity was 89%. For all staphylococcal infections the sensitivity was 79% and the specificity was 96%.