Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1990 Feb;28(2):195–200. doi: 10.1128/jcm.28.2.195-200.1990

Serological response in Enterococcus faecalis endocarditis determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

P J Shorrock 1, P A Lambert 1, E J Aitchison 1, E G Smith 1, I D Farrell 1, E Gutschik 1
PMCID: PMC269574  PMID: 2107199

Abstract

Enterococcus (Streptococcus) faecalis expresses three species-specific surface protein antigens of molecular weights 73,000, 40,000, and 37,000. On Western blotting (immunoblotting), they were detected strongly by immunoglobulin G (IgG) in sera from patients with E. faecalis endocarditis, but not in sera from patients with other E. faecalis infections or with endocarditis due to other streptococci. We developed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay system to measure IgG, IgM, and IgA levels to these antigens and evaluated its potential as a serodiagnostic test for E. faecalis endocarditis. The test correctly diagnosed E. faecalis endocarditis in 15 of 16 cases. Of 10 cases of endocarditis due to other streptococci and 10 E. faecalis infections other than endocarditis, 9 and 8, respectively, gave negative results. The test should prove particularly useful in culture-negative cases, for which choice of appropriate antibiotic therapy for E. faecalis endocarditis is vital.

Full text

PDF
197

Images in this article

196Image
on p.196
197Image
on p.197
197Image
on p.197

Selected References

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

  1. Aitchison E. J., Lambert P. A., Smith E. G., Farrell I. D. Serodiagnosis of Streptococcus faecalis endocarditis by immunoblotting of surface protein antigens. J Clin Microbiol. 1987 Feb;25(2):211–215. doi: 10.1128/jcm.25.2.211-215.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Burnie J. P., Holland M., Matthews R. C., Lees W. Role of immunoblotting in the diagnosis of culture negative and enterococcal endocarditis. J Clin Pathol. 1987 Oct;40(10):1149–1158. doi: 10.1136/jcp.40.10.1149. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Dunny G., Funk C., Adsit J. Direct stimulation of the transfer of antibiotic resistance by sex pheromones in Streptococcus faecalis. Plasmid. 1981 Nov;6(3):270–278. doi: 10.1016/0147-619x(81)90035-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Guzmàn C. A., Pruzzo C., LiPira G., Calegari L. Role of adherence in pathogenesis of Enterococcus faecalis urinary tract infection and endocarditis. Infect Immun. 1989 Jun;57(6):1834–1838. doi: 10.1128/iai.57.6.1834-1838.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Handley P. S., Jacob A. E. Some structural and physiological properties of fimbriae of Streptococcus faecalis. J Gen Microbiol. 1981 Dec;127(2):289–293. doi: 10.1099/00221287-127-2-289. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Jacob E., Arendt D. M., Brook I., Durham L. C., Falk M. C., Schaberg S. J. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of antibodies to Staphylococcus aureus cell walls in experimental osteomyelitis. J Clin Microbiol. 1985 Oct;22(4):547–552. doi: 10.1128/jcm.22.4.547-552.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Jenkinson H. F. Cell-surface proteins of Streptococcus sanguis associated with cell hydrophobicity and coaggregation properties. J Gen Microbiol. 1986 Jun;132(6):1575–1589. doi: 10.1099/00221287-132-6-1575. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Lambert P. A., Aitchison E. J., Smith E. G., Farrell I. D. Serodiagnosis of Streptococcus faecalis endocarditis. J Infect. 1986 Nov;13(3):309–311. doi: 10.1016/s0163-4453(86)91751-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Mederski-Samoraj B. D., Murray B. E. High-level resistance to gentamicin in clinical isolates of enterococci. J Infect Dis. 1983 Apr;147(4):751–757. doi: 10.1093/infdis/147.4.751. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Morris E. J., Ganeshkumar N., McBride B. C. Cell surface components of Streptococcus sanguis: relationship to aggregation, adherence, and hydrophobicity. J Bacteriol. 1985 Oct;164(1):255–262. doi: 10.1128/jb.164.1.255-262.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Shockman G. D., Conover M. J., Kolb J. J., Riley L. S., Toennies G. NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR BACTERIAL CELL WALL SYNTHESIS. J Bacteriol. 1961 Jan;81(1):44–50. doi: 10.1128/jb.81.1.44-50.1961. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Shorrock P. J., Lambert P. A. Binding of fibronectin and albumin to Enterococcus (Streptococcus) faecalis. Microb Pathog. 1989 Jan;6(1):61–67. doi: 10.1016/0882-4010(89)90008-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Uttley A. H., Collins C. H., Naidoo J., George R. C. Vancomycin-resistant enterococci. Lancet. 1988 Jan 2;1(8575-6):57–58. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(88)91037-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Wilson W. R., Geraci J. E. Antibiotic treatment of infective endocarditis. Annu Rev Med. 1983;34:413–427. doi: 10.1146/annurev.me.34.020183.002213. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Wilson W. R., Geraci J. E. Treatment of streptococcal infective endocarditis. Am J Med. 1985 Jun 28;78(6B):128–137. doi: 10.1016/0002-9343(85)90375-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. van de Rijn I., George M., Bouvet A., Roberts R. B. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection of antibodies to nutritionally variant streptococci in patients with endocarditis. J Infect Dis. 1986 Jan;153(1):116–121. doi: 10.1093/infdis/153.1.116. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES