Enterotoxin antibodies in relation to diarrhoea in Swedish soldiers in Cyprus

Abstract

The development of antibodies to Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) and its relationship to diarrhoea was studied in two Swedish battalions (one in the winter, WB, and one in the summer, SB) of the United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus. Whereas only 6-15% of the soldiers had detectable levels of anti-LT antibodies in their sera before leaving Sweden, as many as 69% of the SB and 43% of the WB soldiers who developed diarrhoea in Cyprus acquired significant titres of enterotoxin antibodies in their sera (acute phase serum). During the summer, many soldiers without diarrhoea also obtained anti-LT antibodies, whereas no such response was observed in healthy soldiers during the winter. Civilian Turkish Cypriots had positive sera in high frequency (60-66%) during both study periods. Parallel titration of positive sera against E. coli LT and cholera toxin indicated that the enterotoxin-neutralizing antibodies registered were induced by bacteria producing enterotoxin identical or closely related to LT.