Skip to main content
PMC home page
The Journal of Experimental Medicine logoLink to The Journal of Experimental Medicine
. 1969 Jun 1;129(6):1327–1348. doi: 10.1084/jem.129.6.1327

HUMAN IMMUNITY TO THE MENINGOCOCCUS

II. DEVELOPMENT OF NATURAL IMMUNITY

Irving Goldschneider 1, Emil C Gotschlich 1, Malcolm S Artenstein 1
PMCID: PMC2138665  PMID: 4977281

Abstract

Results of the present study suggest that natural immunity to meningococcal disease is initiated, reinforced, and broadened by intermittent carriage of different strains of meningococci throughout life. In young adults, carriage of meningococci in the nasopharynx is an efficient process of immune sensitization. 92% of carriers of serogroup B, C, or Bo meningococci were found to develop increased titers of serum bactericidal activity to their own meningococcal isolate, and 87% developed bactericidal activity to heterologous strains of pathogenic meningococci. The rise in bactericidal titer occurred within 2 wk of onset of the carrier state, and was accompanied by an increase in titer of specific IgG, IgM, and IgA antibodies to meningococci. In early childhood, when few children have antibodies to pathogenic meningococci, active immunization seems to occur as a result of carriage of atypical, nonpathogenic strains. Immunity to systemic meningococcal infection among infants in the neonatal period is associated with the passive transfer of IgG antibodies from mother to fetus. The antigenic determinants which initiate the immune response to meningococci include the group-specific C polysaccharide, cross-reactive antigens, and type-specific antigens.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (1.2 MB).

Selected References

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

  1. AYCOCK W. L., MUELLER J. H. Meningococcus carrier rates and meningitis incidence. Bacteriol Rev. 1950 Jun;14(2):115–160. doi: 10.1128/br.14.2.115-160.1950. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. DULBECCO R., VOGT M. Plaque formation and isolation of pure lines with poliomyelitis viruses. J Exp Med. 1954 Feb;99(2):167–182. doi: 10.1084/jem.99.2.167. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. EICKHOFF T. C., FINLAND M. CHANGING SUSCEPTIBILITY OF MENINGOCOCCI TO ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS. N Engl J Med. 1965 Feb 25;272:395–398. doi: 10.1056/NEJM196502252720804. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Evans J. R., Artenstein M. S., Hunter D. H. Prevalence of meningococcal serogroups and description of three new groups. Am J Epidemiol. 1968 May;87(3):643–646. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a120854. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Feldman H. A. Meningococcal disease, 1965. JAMA. 1966 May 2;196(5):391–393. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. GROOVER R. V., SUTHERLAND J. M., LANDING B. H. Purulent meningitis of newborn infants. Eleven-year experience in the antibiotic era. N Engl J Med. 1961 Jun 1;264:1115–1121. doi: 10.1056/NEJM196106012642201. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Goldschneider I., Gotschlich E. C., Artenstein M. S. Human immunity to the meningococcus. I. The role of humoral antibodies. J Exp Med. 1969 Jun 1;129(6):1307–1326. doi: 10.1084/jem.129.6.1307. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Gotschlich E. C., Liu T. Y., Artenstein M. S. Human immunity to the meningococcus. 3. Preparation and immunochemical properties of the group A, group B, and group C meningococcal polysaccharides. J Exp Med. 1969 Jun 1;129(6):1349–1365. doi: 10.1084/jem.129.6.1349. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kabat E. A., Miller C. P., Kaiser H., Foster A. Z. CHEMICAL STUDIES ON BACTERIAL AGGLUTINATION : VII. A QUANTITATIVE STUDY OF THE TYPE SPECIFIC AND GROUP SPECIFIC ANTIBODIES IN ANTIMENINGOCOCCAL SERA OF VARIOUS SPECIES AND THEIR RELATION TO MOUSE PROTECTION. J Exp Med. 1945 Jan 1;81(1):1–8. doi: 10.1084/jem.81.1.1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kingsbury D. T. Deoxyribonucleic acid homologies among species of the genus Neisseria. J Bacteriol. 1967 Oct;94(4):870–874. doi: 10.1128/jb.94.4.870-874.1967. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. LANDY M., MICHAEL J. G., WHITBY J. L. Bactericidal method for the measurement in normal serum of antibody to gramnegative bacteria. J Bacteriol. 1962 Mar;83:631–640. doi: 10.1128/jb.83.3.631-640.1962. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Leedom J. M., Ivler D., Mathies A. W., Jr, Thrupp L. D., Fremont J. C., Wehrle P. F., Portnoy B. The problem of sulfadiazine-resistant meningococci. Antimicrob Agents Chemother (Bethesda) 1966;6:281–292. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Lüderitz O., Staub A. M., Westphal O. Immunochemistry of O and R antigens of Salmonella and related Enterobacteriaceae. Bacteriol Rev. 1966 Mar;30(1):192–255. doi: 10.1128/br.30.1.192-255.1966. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. MITCHELL M. S., RHODEN D. L., KING E. O. LACTOSE-FERMENTING ORGANISMS RESEMBLING NEISSERIA MENINGITIDIS. J Bacteriol. 1965 Aug;90:560–560. doi: 10.1128/jb.90.2.560-560.1965. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Mancini G., Carbonara A. O., Heremans J. F. Immunochemical quantitation of antigens by single radial immunodiffusion. Immunochemistry. 1965 Sep;2(3):235–254. doi: 10.1016/0019-2791(65)90004-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. ORLANDINI O., SASS-KORTSAK A., EBBS J. H. Serum gamma globulin levels in normal infants. Pediatrics. 1955 Nov;16(5):575–584. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Rake G. STUDIES ON MENINGOCOCCUS INFECTION : I. BIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF "FRESH" AND "STOCK" STRAINS OF THE MENINGOCOCCUS. J Exp Med. 1933 Mar 31;57(4):549–559. doi: 10.1084/jem.57.4.549. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Rake G. STUDIES ON MENINGOCOCCUS INFECTION : VI. THE CARRIER PROBLEM. J Exp Med. 1934 Apr 30;59(5):553–576. doi: 10.1084/jem.59.5.553. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Rake G. STUDIES ON MENINGOCOCCUS INFECTION : VII. THE STUDY OF AN ISOLATED EPIDEMIC. J Exp Med. 1935 Mar 31;61(4):545–558. doi: 10.1084/jem.61.4.545. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Rake G., Scherp H. W. STUDIES ON MENINGOCOCCUS INFECTION : III. THE ANTIGENIC COMPLEX OF THE MENINGOCOCCUS-A TYPE-SPECIFIC SUBSTANCE. J Exp Med. 1933 Aug 31;58(3):341–360. doi: 10.1084/jem.58.3.341. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Rake G., Scherp H. W. STUDIES ON MENINGOCOCCUS INFECTION : IV. THE ANTIGENIC COMPLEX OF THE MENINGOCOCCUS-GROUP-SPECIFIC CARBOHYDRATE AND PROTEIN FRACTIONS. J Exp Med. 1933 Aug 31;58(3):361–374. doi: 10.1084/jem.58.3.361. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. SCHERP H. W. Neisseria and neisserial infections. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1955;9:319–334. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.09.100155.001535. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. SMITH E. S. Purulent meningitis in infants and children; a review of 409 cases. J Pediatr. 1954 Oct;45(4):425–436. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(54)80167-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Sartwell P. E., Smith W. M. Epidemiological Notes on Meningococcal Meningitis in the Army. Am J Public Health Nations Health. 1944 Jan;34(1):40–49. doi: 10.2105/ajph.34.1.40. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Thomas L., Smith H. W., Dingle J. H. INVESTIGATIONS OF MENINGOCOCCAL INFECTION. II. IMMUNOLOGICAL ASPECTS. J Clin Invest. 1943 May;22(3):361–373. doi: 10.1172/JCI101405. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. UHR J. W. THE HETEROGENEITY OF THE IMMUNE RESPONSE. Science. 1964 Jul 31;145(3631):457–464. doi: 10.1126/science.145.3631.457. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Vedros N. A., Hunter D. H., Rust J. H., Jr Studies on immunity in meningococal meningitis. Mil Med. 1966 Nov;131(11):1413–1417. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Experimental Medicine are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES