Distinctive patterns in the human antibody response to Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia in carriers and non‐carriers

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Abstract
Staphylococcus aureus is both a prominent cause of nosocomial infections with significant morbidity and mortality and a commensal with nasal carriage in around 30% of the population. The rapid spread of multi‐resistant strains necessitates novel therapeutic strategies, a challenging task because the species S. aureus and the host response against it are highly variable. In a prospective study among 2023 surgical and non‐surgical patients, 12 patients developed S. aureus bacteremia. They were analysed in detail using a personalized approach. For each patient, the extracellular proteins of the infecting S. aureus strain were identified and the developing antibody response was assessed on 2‐D immunoblots. S. aureus carriers showed clear evidence of strain‐specific pre‐immunization. In all immune‐competent bacteremia patients, antibody binding increased strongly, in most cases already at diagnosis. In endogenous infections, the pattern of antibody binding was similar to the pre‐infection pattern. In exogenous infections, in contrast, the pre‐infection pattern was radically altered with the acquisition of new specificities. These were characteristic for individual patients. Nevertheless, a common signature of 11 conserved S. aureus proteins, recognized in at least half of the bacteremic patients, was identified. All patients mounted a dynamic antibody response to a subset of these proteins.
Funding Information
  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB-TR34, GRK-840)
  • Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg Greifswald