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. 1999 Aug;67(8):3937-46.
doi: 10.1128/IAI.67.8.3937-3946.1999.

Limited local and systemic antibody responses to Neisseria gonorrhoeae during uncomplicated genital infections

S R Hedges  1 , M S Mayo, J Mestecky, E W Hook 3rd, M W Russell
Affiliations

Limited local and systemic antibody responses to Neisseria gonorrhoeae during uncomplicated genital infections

S R Hedges et al. Infect Immun. 1999 Aug.

Abstract

Repeated infections with Neisseria gonorrhoeae are common among patients attending sexually transmitted disease clinics. We examined whether previous infections or site of infection altered the local and systemic antigonococcal antibody levels in males and females. Antibodies against N. gonorrhoeae MS11 and the patients' homologous infecting isolates were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In general, the local and systemic immune responses to gonococci were extremely modest. There was a slight increase in serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) against the MS11 strain and the homologous isolates in infected males. Levels of serum IgA1 antibodies against MS11 were slightly higher in infected than in uninfected females. A history of previous infections with N. gonorrhoeae did not alter the antibody levels in patients with a current infection, suggesting that immunological memory is not induced by uncomplicated gonococcal infections. Antibody responses to infected subjects' homologous isolates were observed in cervical mucus; IgA1 levels increased while IgG levels decreased. The decline in mucosal IgG against the homologous isolates was less common in subjects having both rectal and cervical infections; otherwise, no effect of rectal involvement was observed. The absence of substantially higher antibody levels to gonococci where there is infection at a site known to contain organized lymphoid tissue suggests that the low levels of responses to uncomplicated infections may not be due simply to an absence of inductive sites in the genital tract. We propose that in addition to its potential ability to avoid the effects of an immune response, N. gonorrhoeae does not elicit strong humoral immune responses during uncomplicated genital infections.

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Figures

FIG. 1
FIG. 1
Cervical mucus and serum IgA1 and IgG antibody levels to the homologous infecting isolates from female patients at visit 1 (enrollment and treatment) and visit 2 (2 weeks after treatment). Differences between visits were compared with the Wilcoxon signed-rank test on data expressed relative to the corresponding total Ig levels. Filled symbols indicate patients reporting at least one previous episode of gonorrhea.
FIG. 2
FIG. 2
Serum IgA1, IgA2, and IgG antibody levels to the homologous infecting isolates from male patients at visit 1 (enrollment and treatment), visit 2 (2 weeks after treatment), and visit 3 (4 weeks after treatment). Differences between visits were compared with the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Filled symbols indicate patients reporting at least one previous episode of gonorrhea. Note logarithmic scales.
FIG. 3
FIG. 3
IgA1, IgA2, and IgG antibody levels to N. gonorrhoeae MS11 in serum (A) and cervical mucus (B) from female patients and in serum (C) from male patients at visit 1. Differences between groups were compared with the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests. Note logarithmic scales.
FIG. 3
FIG. 3
IgA1, IgA2, and IgG antibody levels to N. gonorrhoeae MS11 in serum (A) and cervical mucus (B) from female patients and in serum (C) from male patients at visit 1. Differences between groups were compared with the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests. Note logarithmic scales.
FIG. 3
FIG. 3
IgA1, IgA2, and IgG antibody levels to N. gonorrhoeae MS11 in serum (A) and cervical mucus (B) from female patients and in serum (C) from male patients at visit 1. Differences between groups were compared with the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests. Note logarithmic scales.
FIG. 4
FIG. 4
IgA1 and IgG antibody levels to homologous rectal and cervical isolates from female patients in cervical mucus (A) and in serum (B). Differences between groups were compared with the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.
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