Commons Robert, Rogers Susan, Gooding Travis, Danchin Margie, Carapetis Jonathan, Robins-Browne Roy, Curtis Nigel
Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, Australia.
Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Australia.
J Med Microbiol. 2008 Oct;57(Pt 10):1238-1246. doi: 10.1099/jmm.0.2008/001156-0.
Superantigens are important virulence factors in the pathogenesis of invasive disease caused by group A streptococcus (GAS). There has been a recent re-emergence of this disease worldwide. A number of novel superantigens have been described recently. This study investigated 107 isolates of GAS for possession of each of the 11 currently known superantigen genes to determine the prevalence, co-occurrence and genetic restriction amongst different emm types of GAS. The results were compared with those in previously published studies. Superantigen genes were not randomly distributed amongst GAS isolates. Certain combinations of superantigen genes were more common and the majority of emm types showed restricted superantigen profiles. This is the first prevalence study of GAS isolates to include the complete range of known superantigen genes and their restriction amongst emm types. This study contributes to the understanding of the relationship between superantigen genes and emm types, and highlights the importance of comprehensive studies in different populations.
超抗原是A组链球菌（GAS）引起侵袭性疾病发病机制中的重要毒力因子。近期，这种疾病在全球范围内再度出现。最近已描述了多种新型超抗原。本研究调查了107株GAS分离株，以确定其是否拥有目前已知的11种超抗原基因中的每一种，从而确定不同emm型GAS中超抗原基因的流行率、共现情况和基因限制。将结果与先前发表的研究结果进行了比较。超抗原基因在GAS分离株中并非随机分布。某些超抗原基因组合更为常见，并且大多数emm型显示出受限的超抗原谱。这是首次对GAS分离株进行的流行率研究，涵盖了已知超抗原基因的完整范围及其在emm型中的限制情况。本研究有助于理解超抗原基因与emm型之间的关系，并强调了在不同人群中进行全面研究的重要性。
