Skip to main content
PMC home page
Archives of Disease in Childhood logoLink to Archives of Disease in Childhood
. 1998 Nov;79(5):400–404. doi: 10.1136/adc.79.5.400

Production of antibodies to staphylococcal superantigens in atopic dermatitis

D Campbell 1, A Kemp 1, C MICHIE 1
PMCID: PMC1717757  PMID: 10193251

Abstract

Staphylococcal superantigens (SAG) are implicated in the inflammation of atopic dermatitis. As SAG mediated diseases may be modified by specific antibodies, the antibody response to SAG in atopic dermatitis was investigated. Immunoglobulin (Ig) G to staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA), staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB), and toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1) were measured by sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 74 children with atopic dermatitis and 111 controls. Controls had detectable IgG to SEA, SEB, and TSST-1, which increased with age. Atopic dermatitis subjects had an increased response to SEB at 6 months to 2 years (76% v 42%) and 2 to 7 years (79% v 57%), and equivalent responses to SEA and TSST-1, compared to controls. It is suggested that increased responses to SEB relate to increased colonisation and hence exposure to superantigen producing staphylococcus in atopic dermatitis, and that inflammation of atopic dermatitis is not caused by an inability to make antibody to SAG.



Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (113.0 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Abe J., Kotzin B. L., Jujo K., Melish M. E., Glode M. P., Kohsaka T., Leung D. Y. Selective expansion of T cells expressing T-cell receptor variable regions V beta 2 and V beta 8 in Kawasaki disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992 May 1;89(9):4066–4070. doi: 10.1073/pnas.89.9.4066. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bergdoll M. S., Crass B. A., Reiser R. F., Robbins R. N., Davis J. P. A new staphylococcal enterotoxin, enterotoxin F, associated with toxic-shock-syndrome Staphylococcus aureus isolates. Lancet. 1981 May 9;1(8228):1017–1021. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(81)92186-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Campbell D. E., Kemp A. S. Proliferation and production of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and IL-4 in response to Staphylococcus aureus and staphylococcal superantigen in childhood atopic dermatitis. Clin Exp Immunol. 1997 Feb;107(2):392–397. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2249.1997.278-ce1172.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Christensson B., Hedström S. A. Serological response to toxic shock syndrome toxin in Staphylococcus aureus infected patients and healthy controls. Acta Pathol Microbiol Immunol Scand B. 1985 Apr;93(2):87–90. doi: 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1985.tb02857.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Evenson M. L., Hinds M. W., Bernstein R. S., Bergdoll M. S. Estimation of human dose of staphylococcal enterotoxin A from a large outbreak of staphylococcal food poisoning involving chocolate milk. Int J Food Microbiol. 1988 Dec 31;7(4):311–316. doi: 10.1016/0168-1605(88)90057-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Herz U., Bunikowski R., Renz H. Role of T cells in atopic dermatitis. New aspects on the dynamics of cytokine production and the contribution of bacterial superantigens. Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 1998 Mar;115(3):179–190. doi: 10.1159/000023899. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hoeger P. H., Lenz W., Boutonnier A., Fournier J. M. Staphylococcal skin colonization in children with atopic dermatitis: prevalence, persistence, and transmission of toxigenic and nontoxigenic strains. J Infect Dis. 1992 Jun;165(6):1064–1068. doi: 10.1093/infdis/165.6.1064. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Jacobson J. A., Kasworm E. M., Crass B. A., Bergdoll M. S. Nasal carriage of toxigenic Staphylococcus aureus and prevalence of serum antibody to toxic-shock-syndrome toxin 1 in Utah. J Infect Dis. 1986 Feb;153(2):356–359. doi: 10.1093/infdis/153.2.356. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Jacobson J. A., Kasworm E., Daly J. A. Risk of developing toxic shock syndrome associated with toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 following nongenital staphylococcal infection. Rev Infect Dis. 1989 Jan-Feb;11 (Suppl 1):S8–13. doi: 10.1093/clinids/11.supplement_1.s8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kappler J., Kotzin B., Herron L., Gelfand E. W., Bigler R. D., Boylston A., Carrel S., Posnett D. N., Choi Y., Marrack P. V beta-specific stimulation of human T cells by staphylococcal toxins. Science. 1989 May 19;244(4906):811–813. doi: 10.1126/science.2524876. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. König B., Neuber K., König W. Responsiveness of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from normal and atopic donors to microbial superantigens. Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 1995 Feb;106(2):124–133. doi: 10.1159/000236832. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Lester M. R., Hofer M. F., Gately M., Trumble A., Leung D. Y. Down-regulating effects of IL-4 and IL-10 on the IFN-gamma response in atopic dermatitis. J Immunol. 1995 Jun 1;154(11):6174–6181. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Leung D. Y., Harbeck R., Bina P., Reiser R. F., Yang E., Norris D. A., Hanifin J. M., Sampson H. A. Presence of IgE antibodies to staphylococcal exotoxins on the skin of patients with atopic dermatitis. Evidence for a new group of allergens. J Clin Invest. 1993 Sep;92(3):1374–1380. doi: 10.1172/JCI116711. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Leung D. Y., Meissner H. C., Fulton D. R., Murray D. L., Kotzin B. L., Schlievert P. M. Toxic shock syndrome toxin-secreting Staphylococcus aureus in Kawasaki syndrome. Lancet. 1993 Dec 4;342(8884):1385–1388. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(93)92752-f. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Lever R., Hadley K., Downey D., Mackie R. Staphylococcal colonization in atopic dermatitis and the effect of topical mupirocin therapy. Br J Dermatol. 1988 Aug;119(2):189–198. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2133.1988.tb03201.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Loch E. G., Crass B. A., Bergdoll M. S. Staphylococcus aureus--toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 antibody titers in serum of German women. Arch Gynecol. 1986;237(4):229–233. doi: 10.1007/BF02133785. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Luber H., Amornsiripanitch S., Lucky A. W. Mupirocin and the eradication of Staphylococcus aureus in atopic dermatitis. Arch Dermatol. 1988 Jun;124(6):853–854. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Michie C. A., Cohen J. The clinical significance of T-cell superantigens. Trends Microbiol. 1998 Feb;6(2):61–65. doi: 10.1016/S0966-842X(97)01193-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Nissen D., Pedersen L. J., Skov P. S., Vejlsgaard G. L., Poulsen L. K., Jarløv J. O., Karlsmark T., Nolte H. IgE-binding components of staphylococcal enterotoxins in patients with atopic dermatitis. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 1997 Nov;79(5):403–408. doi: 10.1016/s1081-1206(10)63033-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Pereira J. L., Salzberg S. P., Bergdoll M. S. Production of staphylococcal enterotoxin D in foods by low-enterotoxin-producing staphylococci. Int J Food Microbiol. 1991 Oct;14(1):19–25. doi: 10.1016/0168-1605(91)90033-l. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Reiser R. F., Jacobson J. A., Kasworm E. M., Bergdoll M. S. Staphylococcal enterotoxin antibodies in pediatric patients from Utah. J Infect Dis. 1988 Nov;158(5):1105–1108. doi: 10.1093/infdis/158.5.1105. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Rosten P. M., Bartlett K. H., Chow A. W. Serologic responses to toxic shock syndrome (TSS) toxin-1 in menstrual and nonmenstrual TSS. Clin Invest Med. 1988 Jun;11(3):187–192. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Schröder E., Kunstmann G., Hasbach H., Pulverer G. Prevalence of serum antibodies to toxic-shock-syndrome-toxin-1 and to staphylococcal enterotoxins A, B and C in West-Germany. Zentralbl Bakteriol Mikrobiol Hyg A. 1988 Nov;270(1-2):110–114. doi: 10.1016/s0176-6724(88)80146-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Solino Noleto A. L., da Costa Cesar E., Bergdoll M. S. Antibodies to staphylococcal enterotoxins and toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 in sera of patients and healthy people in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. J Clin Microbiol. 1986 Nov;24(5):809–811. doi: 10.1128/jcm.24.5.809-811.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Strange P., Skov L., Lisby S., Nielsen P. L., Baadsgaard O. Staphylococcal enterotoxin B applied on intact normal and intact atopic skin induces dermatitis. Arch Dermatol. 1996 Jan;132(1):27–33. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Terai M., Miwa K., Williams T., Kabat W., Fukuyama M., Okajima Y., Igarashi H., Shulman S. T. The absence of evidence of staphylococcal toxin involvement in the pathogenesis of Kawasaki disease. J Infect Dis. 1995 Aug;172(2):558–561. doi: 10.1093/infdis/172.2.558. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Archives of Disease in Childhood are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES