Antigenic Relationships among Human Pathogenic Orientia tsutsugamushi Isolates from Thailand.
BACKGROUND:Scrub typhus is a common cause of undiagnosed febrile illness in certain tropical regions, but can be easily treated with antibiotics. The causative agent, Orientia tsutsugamushi, is antigenically variable which complicates diagnosis and efforts towards vaccine development. METHODOLOGY/PR...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:3346930d923745ef891cdf935f7e2096 2023-05-15T15:12:58+02:00 Antigenic Relationships among Human Pathogenic Orientia tsutsugamushi Isolates from Thailand. Sarah L James Stuart D Blacksell Pruksa Nawtaisong Ampai Tanganuchitcharnchai Derek J Smith Nicholas P J Day Daniel H Paris 2016-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004723 https://doaj.org/article/3346930d923745ef891cdf935f7e2096 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4889052?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0004723 https://doaj.org/article/3346930d923745ef891cdf935f7e2096 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 10, Iss 6, p e0004723 (2016) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004723 2022-12-31T00:08:13Z BACKGROUND:Scrub typhus is a common cause of undiagnosed febrile illness in certain tropical regions, but can be easily treated with antibiotics. The causative agent, Orientia tsutsugamushi, is antigenically variable which complicates diagnosis and efforts towards vaccine development. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:This study aimed to dissect the antigenic and genetic relatedness of O. tsutsugamushi strains and investigate sero-diagnostic reactivities by titrating individual patient sera against their O. tsutsugamushi isolates (whole-cell antigen preparation), in homologous and heterologous serum-isolate pairs from the same endemic region in NE Thailand. The indirect immunofluorescence assay was used to titrate Orientia tsutsugamushi isolates and human sera, and a mathematical technique, antigenic cartography, was applied to these data to visualise the antigenic differences and cross-reactivity between strains and sera. No functional or antigen-specific analyses were performed. The antigenic variation found in clinical isolates was much less pronounced than the genetic differences found in the 56kDa type-specific antigen genes. The Karp-like sera were more broadly reactive than the Gilliam-like sera. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:Antigenic cartography worked well with scrub typhus indirect immunofluorescence titres. The data from humoral responses suggest that a Karp-like strain would provide broader antibody cross-reactivity than a Gilliam-like strain. Although previous exposure to O. tsutsugamushi could not be ruled out, scrub typhus patient serum antibody responses were characterised by strong homologous, but weak heterologous antibody titres, with little evidence for cross-reactivity by Gilliam-like sera, but a broader response from some Karp-like sera. This work highlights the importance of antigenic variation in O. tsutsugamushi diagnosis and determination of new serotypes. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 10 6 e0004723 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
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English |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Sarah L James Stuart D Blacksell Pruksa Nawtaisong Ampai Tanganuchitcharnchai Derek J Smith Nicholas P J Day Daniel H Paris Antigenic Relationships among Human Pathogenic Orientia tsutsugamushi Isolates from Thailand. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
BACKGROUND:Scrub typhus is a common cause of undiagnosed febrile illness in certain tropical regions, but can be easily treated with antibiotics. The causative agent, Orientia tsutsugamushi, is antigenically variable which complicates diagnosis and efforts towards vaccine development. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:This study aimed to dissect the antigenic and genetic relatedness of O. tsutsugamushi strains and investigate sero-diagnostic reactivities by titrating individual patient sera against their O. tsutsugamushi isolates (whole-cell antigen preparation), in homologous and heterologous serum-isolate pairs from the same endemic region in NE Thailand. The indirect immunofluorescence assay was used to titrate Orientia tsutsugamushi isolates and human sera, and a mathematical technique, antigenic cartography, was applied to these data to visualise the antigenic differences and cross-reactivity between strains and sera. No functional or antigen-specific analyses were performed. The antigenic variation found in clinical isolates was much less pronounced than the genetic differences found in the 56kDa type-specific antigen genes. The Karp-like sera were more broadly reactive than the Gilliam-like sera. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:Antigenic cartography worked well with scrub typhus indirect immunofluorescence titres. The data from humoral responses suggest that a Karp-like strain would provide broader antibody cross-reactivity than a Gilliam-like strain. Although previous exposure to O. tsutsugamushi could not be ruled out, scrub typhus patient serum antibody responses were characterised by strong homologous, but weak heterologous antibody titres, with little evidence for cross-reactivity by Gilliam-like sera, but a broader response from some Karp-like sera. This work highlights the importance of antigenic variation in O. tsutsugamushi diagnosis and determination of new serotypes. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sarah L James Stuart D Blacksell Pruksa Nawtaisong Ampai Tanganuchitcharnchai Derek J Smith Nicholas P J Day Daniel H Paris |
author_facet |
Sarah L James Stuart D Blacksell Pruksa Nawtaisong Ampai Tanganuchitcharnchai Derek J Smith Nicholas P J Day Daniel H Paris |
author_sort |
Sarah L James |
title |
Antigenic Relationships among Human Pathogenic Orientia tsutsugamushi Isolates from Thailand. |
title_short |
Antigenic Relationships among Human Pathogenic Orientia tsutsugamushi Isolates from Thailand. |
title_full |
Antigenic Relationships among Human Pathogenic Orientia tsutsugamushi Isolates from Thailand. |
title_fullStr |
Antigenic Relationships among Human Pathogenic Orientia tsutsugamushi Isolates from Thailand. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Antigenic Relationships among Human Pathogenic Orientia tsutsugamushi Isolates from Thailand. |
title_sort |
antigenic relationships among human pathogenic orientia tsutsugamushi isolates from thailand. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004723 https://doaj.org/article/3346930d923745ef891cdf935f7e2096 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 10, Iss 6, p e0004723 (2016) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4889052?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0004723 https://doaj.org/article/3346930d923745ef891cdf935f7e2096 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004723 |
container_title |
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
e0004723 |
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1766343579199864832 |