Isoelectric focusing of human antibody to the Haemophilus influenzae b capsular polysaccharide: restricted and identical spectrotypes in adults.

Serum antibody to the capsular polysaccharide of Haemophilus influenzae b of human adults was analyzed by isoelectric focusing. Restricted antibody spectrotype patterns were commonly observed with as few as one spectrotype in some subjects after immunization with the isolated capsular polysaccharide. Some patterns were as restricted as human hybridoma antibody. There was no correlation of antibody titer and heterogeneity of patterns. The dominant spectrotype persisted unchanged for over 2 yr after immunization, and the pattern detected in preimmunization serum samples persisted unchanged after immunization. Indistinguishable patterns were commonly observed in genetically unrelated adults. Adults immunized with conjugate vaccines, which were composed of oligosaccharides prepared from the capsular polysaccharide that were covalently linked to protein carriers, also produced restricted serum antibody spectrotype patterns. Immunization with the cross-reactive polysaccharide of E. coli K100 induced a spectrotype pattern that was restricted but different from that induced by the H. influenzae b capsular polysaccharide.