Abstract
Because the reported frequency of teichoic acid precipitins in controls and various patient groups has varied considerably among laboratories, we studied the effect of using various concentrations of staphylococcal extracts in agar-gel diffusion tests for teichoic acid antibodies. Of 25 normal sera, only 1 was positive against an undiluted extract, but 4 were positive against a 16-fold-diluted extract. Of nine sera from patients with staphylococcal bacteremia, two were positive at a higher titer against the diluted extract. A false-positive serum against the undiluted extract had a twofold titer increase against the diluted extract. Because human immune serum globulin is generally used as a positive teichoic acid antibody control, the variability of five different lots was studied. Three lots ahd teichoic acid antibody titers of 1:4, whereas one each had titers of 1:2 and 1:8. Based on this study, we feel that staphylococcal extracts should not be diluted. If immune serum globulins are used to determine the adequacy of ultrasonic extracts, newly acquired globulin lots should be standarized against an ultrasonic extract of proven sensitivity and specificity.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Crowder J. G., White A. Teichoic acid antibodies in staphylococcal and nonstaphylococcal endocarditis. Ann Intern Med. 1972 Jul;77(1):87–90. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-77-1-87. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Daugharty H., Martin R. R., White A. Antibodies against staphylococcal teichoic acids and type-specific antigens in man. J Immunol. 1967 Jun;98(6):1123–1129. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- LOWRY O. H., ROSEBROUGH N. J., FARR A. L., RANDALL R. J. Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent. J Biol Chem. 1951 Nov;193(1):265–275. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Larinkari U. M., Valtonen M. V., Sarvas M., Valtonen V. V. Teichoic acid antibody test: its use in patients with coagulase-positive staphylococcal bacteremia. Arch Intern Med. 1977 Nov;137(11):1522–1525. doi: 10.1001/archinte.137.11.1522. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Leffell M. S., Folds J. D., Wasilauskas B. Counterimmunoelectrophoretic detection of a high incidence of precipitin reactions in normal human sera against staphylococcal teichoic acids and protein A. J Clin Microbiol. 1978 Nov;8(5):591–597. doi: 10.1128/jcm.8.5.591-597.1978. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Mackowiak P. A., Smith J. W. Teichoic acid antibodies in chronic staphylococcal osteomyelitis. Ann Intern Med. 1978 Oct;89(4):494–496. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-89-4-494. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Nagel J. G., Tuazon C. U., Cardella T. A., Sheagren J. N. Teichoic acid serologic diagnosis of staphylococcal endocarditis. Use of gel diffusion and counterimmunoelectrophoretic methods. Ann Intern Med. 1975 Jan;82(1):13–17. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-82-1-13. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tuazon C. U., Sheagren J. N., Choa M. S., Marcus D., Curtin J. A. Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia: relationship between formation of antibodies to teichoic acid and development of metastatic abscesses. J Infect Dis. 1978 Jan;137(1):57–62. doi: 10.1093/infdis/137.1.57. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tuazon C. U., Sheagren J. N. Teichoic acid antibodies in the diagnosis of serious infections with Staphylococcus aureus. Ann Intern Med. 1976 May;84(5):543–546. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-84-5-543. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wheat L. J., Kohler R. B., White A. Solid-phase radioimmunoassay for immunoglobulin G Staphylococcus aureus antibody in serious staphylococcal infection. Ann Intern Med. 1978 Oct;89(4):467–472. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-89-4-467. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]