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Influence of age and carriage status on salivary IgA to Neisseria meningitidis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2005

R. E. HORTON ,
J. STUART ,
H. CHRISTENSEN ,
R. BORROW ,
T. GUTHRIE ,
V. DAVENPORT ,
A. FINN ,
The ALSPAC Study Team ,
N. A. WILLIAMS  and
R. S. HEYDERMAN
R. E. HORTON
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology and Microbiology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK Health Protection Agency, Bristol, UK
J. STUART
Affiliation:
Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre (Southwest), Health Protection Agency, Gloucester, UK
H. CHRISTENSEN
Affiliation:
Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre (Southwest), Health Protection Agency, Gloucester, UK
R. BORROW
Affiliation:
HPA Meningococcal Reference Unit, Medical Microbiology Partnership, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Manchester, UK
T. GUTHRIE
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology and Microbiology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
V. DAVENPORT
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology and Microbiology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
A. FINN
Affiliation:
Institute of Child Health, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
The ALSPAC Study Team
Affiliation:
Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, Bristol, UK
N. A. WILLIAMS
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology and Microbiology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
R. S. HEYDERMAN
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology and Microbiology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK Health Protection Agency, Bristol, UK
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Abstract

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Asymptomatic carriage of Neisseria meningitidis is common (5–35% of individuals) while the incidence of invasive meningococcal disease is fairly low (<1–5 per 100000 per annum in Europe). Naturally acquired protective immunity may account for this difference. In this study, we investigated the relationship between anti-meningococcal salivary IgA and age and carriage. We showed that salivary IgA to a range of meningococcal antigens increased successively with age with some specificity for commonly circulating serosubtypes. In a group of 258 students 37 (14%) of whom were carriers of N. meningitidis serogroup B, higher levels of specific IgA were associated with carriage. Stratified analysis revealed a positive relationship between smoking and specific anti-N. meningitidis IgA independent of current carriage, weighted odds ratio (OR) 4·1 (95% CI 1·1–18) and OR 3·8 (95% CI 0·96–16) for reference strains B:1:P1.14 and B:4:P1.5,4 respectively. These data implicate IgA as a factor in host defence from meningococcal invasion, although the precise mechanisms remain uncertain.

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 133 , Issue 5 , October 2005 , pp. 883 - 889
Copyright
2005 Cambridge University Press