DETECTION OF MICROBIAL SURFACE-ANTIGENS THAT BIND LEWIS(A) ANTIGEN

There is evidence that the Lewis(a) blood group antigen is one of the receptors for a number of potentially pathogenic microorganisms. To de termine how widely distributed the microbial adhesins are that bind th is antigen, anti-idiotypic antibodies produced against monoclonal anti -Lewis(a) were used in coagglutination assays to screen a variety of s pecies. The following were agglutinated: 7/7 strains of Staphylococcus aureus; 10/19 (53%) strains of Neisseria meningitidis; 8/13 (62%) str ains of Haemophilus influence; 1/3 strains of Helicobacter pylori; 1/2 strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae; 1/2 strains of Candida albicans. Th e application of the anti-idiotypic antibodies to studies of host cell receptors, isolation of adhesins and development of new epidemiologic al typing reagents is discussed.