Neutralization of the Staphylococcus aureus Panton-Valentine leukocidin by African and Caucasian sera.

The prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus isolates carrying the Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) gene is higher in Africa (≈50%) compared to Europe (< 5%). The study aimed to measure anti-PVL-antibodies in Africans and Germans in a multi-center study and to test whether detected antibodies can neutralize the cytotoxic effect of PVL on polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs). Sera from asymptomatic Africans (n = 22, Nigeria, Gabon) and Caucasians (n = 22, Germany) were used to quantify antibody titers against PVL and α-hemolysin (in arbitrary units [AU]) by ELISA. PMNs from one African and German donor were exposed to 5 nM recombinant PVL to measure the neutralizing effect of serial dilutions of pooled sera from African and Caucasian participants, or donor sera at 0.625 and 2.5% (v/v). Anti-PVL-antibodies were significantly higher in Africans than in Germans (1.9 vs. 0.7 AU, p < 0.0001). The pooled sera from the study participants neutralized the cytotoxic effect of PVL on African and German PMNs in a dose dependent manner. Also, neutralization of PVL on PMNs from the African and German donors had a stronger effect with African sera (half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) = 0.27 and 0.47%, respectively) compared to Caucasian sera (IC50 = 3.51 and 3.59% respectively). Africans have higher levels of neutralizing anti-PVL-antibodies. It remains unclear if or at what level these antibodies protect against PVL-related diseases. © 2022. The Author(s).

Citation

Tobias Grebe, Viktoria Rudolf, Christiane Sidonie Gouleu, Bettina Löffler, Ayola Akim Adegnika, Adebayo Osagie Shittu, Stefanie Deinhardt-Emmer, Silke Niemann, Frieder Schaumburg. Neutralization of the Staphylococcus aureus Panton-Valentine leukocidin by African and Caucasian sera. BMC microbiology. 2022 Sep 17;22(1):219

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PMID: 36115948

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