Smith D J, King W F, Akita H, Taubman M A
Department of Immunology, Forsyth Dental Center, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Oral Microbiol Immunol. 1998 Oct;13(5):278-85. doi: 10.1111/j.1399-302x.1998.tb00708.x.
We explored the relationship between mutans streptococcal infection and the development of salivary IgA antibody during initial colonization. Repetitive swabbing (n = 292) of the teeth of 33 children revealed that 45% became infected with mutans streptococci between 13 and 36 months of age. In contrast, mutans streptococci could not be detected in 18 children whose last sample was taken at 39-81 months of age (median age = 62 months). During the period of mutans streptococcal infectivity, immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibody to several mutans streptococcal antigens appeared in most children, whether or not infection had been demonstrated. Robust responses to mutans streptococcal components occurred during or shortly after, but not before the period of mutans streptococcal infectivity. No consistent differences were observed among the summarized patterns of response of infected and uninfected groups of children, although the IgA Western blot patterns of individual subjects were often quite distinct. For example, sets of siblings, who would be presumed to be challenged with similar maternal mutans streptococcal clonotypes, were shown to develop qualitatively different salivary IgA responses to mutans streptococcal components. These results support a discrete period for mutans streptococcal infection and may suggest that the level of maternal infection is a factor in the success of infection of the child during this period. The data also suggest that exposure to mutans streptococci is a sufficient condition for robust mucosal IgA responses to mutans streptococcal antigens during the period of infectivity and that these responses may be different, even among siblings.
我们探讨了变形链球菌感染与初始定植期间唾液IgA抗体产生之间的关系。对33名儿童的牙齿进行重复擦拭取样（n = 292），结果显示，45%的儿童在13至36个月大时感染了变形链球菌。相比之下，在18名最后一次取样时间为39 - 81个月大（中位年龄 = 62个月）的儿童中未检测到变形链球菌。在变形链球菌具有感染性的期间，大多数儿童体内出现了针对几种变形链球菌抗原的免疫球蛋白A（IgA）抗体，无论是否已证实感染。对变形链球菌成分的强烈反应发生在变形链球菌具有感染性的期间或之后不久，但在此之前没有出现。尽管个体儿童的IgA免疫印迹模式通常差异很大，但在感染组和未感染组儿童的总体反应模式中未观察到一致的差异。例如，据推测会受到相似母体变形链球菌克隆型挑战的一组兄弟姐妹，对变形链球菌成分产生的唾液IgA反应在质量上有所不同。这些结果支持变形链球菌感染存在一个离散期，并且可能表明母体感染水平是该时期儿童感染成功的一个因素。数据还表明，在感染期间接触变形链球菌是对变形链球菌抗原产生强烈黏膜IgA反应的充分条件，而且即使在兄弟姐妹之间，这些反应也可能不同。
