ASSOCIATION OF GM ALLOTYPES WITH THE ANTIBODY-RESPONSE TO THE OUTER-MEMBRANE PROTEINS OF A COMMON UPPER RESPIRATORY-TRACT ORGANISM, MORAXELLA-CATARRHALIS
D. Goldblatt et al., ASSOCIATION OF GM ALLOTYPES WITH THE ANTIBODY-RESPONSE TO THE OUTER-MEMBRANE PROTEINS OF A COMMON UPPER RESPIRATORY-TRACT ORGANISM, MORAXELLA-CATARRHALIS, The Journal of immunology, 153(11), 1994, pp. 5316-5320
Previously, Gm allotypes have been shown to influence human serum Ig s
ubclass levels as well as the Ab levels achieved after Ag stimulation.
The majority of the latter studies have focused on Ab responses to po
lysaccharide Ags. In this study, we have investigated the relationship
between Gm allotypes and naturally occurring serum Ab levels to a bac
terial protein Ag, the outer membrane proteins of a common microorgani
sm, Moraxella catarrhalis. In the sera of 160 patients having chronic/
recurrent sinusitis, there was a highly significant correlation betwee
n the level of specific anti-M. catarrhalis IgG3 level and certain Gm
phenotypes. After additional investigation, we found that the presence
of G3m(21) homozygosity correlated significantly with lower levels of
Ag-specific IgG3. Specific anti-M. catarrhalis IgG3 levels were found
to be independent of total serum IgG3 concentrations, and there was n
o correlation between the serum level of IgG3 and any Cm phenotype. To
tal Ige and IgG2 that were specific for pneumococcal cell wall polysac
charide also were measured in this group of patients, and no correlati
on was found between the naturally occurring IgG2 subclass levels to p
neumococcal cell wall polysaccharide and the interactive effect of G2m
(23) (syn: G2m(n)) and Km(1). Gm allotypes may influence Ab responses
other than the anti-carbohydrate responses and, therefore, should be t
aken into account when investigating IgG subclass responses to protein
Ags.