TITERS OF CLASS-SPECIFIC ANTIBODIES AGAINST SHIGELLA AND SALMONELLA LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE ANTIGENS IN COLOSTRUM AND BREAST-MILK OF COSTA RICAN, SWEDISH AND VIETNAMESE MOTHERS

Enzyme immunoassays (EIA) were used to estimate titres of class-specific antibodies against purified and chemically defined phenol-water-extracted lipopolysaccharide (LPS) antigens of Salmonella serogroup B (BO), Shigella dysenteriae type i, Plesiomonas shigelloides (the same O-antigen as Shigella sonnei) and Shigella flexneri Y. Titres in colostrum and breast milk of Swedish, Vietnamese and Costa Rican mothers from various socioeconomic conditions were compared. The antibodies were mainly of the IgA isotype. IgM antibodies were also present, but only very low concentrations of IgG were found. In Costa Rican mothers, the IgA antibody titres were significantly higher (P < 0·05) in women of low and middle socioeconomical conditions than were those in mothers of high socioeconomical level. The low titres in the last group were comparable to those found in Swedish mothers. The IgA antibody titres found in Vietnamese mothers were similar to those of Costa Rican mothers from the low and middle socioeconomic conditions, being highest against S. flexneri Y LPS. The IgM antibody titres were also highest in Vietnamese mothers, immediately followed by the Costa Rican mothers of low socioeconomic conditions. The low IgM titres in the Costa Rican women of high socioeconomic level were comparable to those seen in Swedish mothers. The results suggest that, in Costa Rica and Vietnam, S. flexneri is the most prevalent Shigella sp. causing infection and that Salmonella serogroup B infections are rare in all three countries. The results also show that the antibody repertoire in colostrum and breast milk varies. Furthermore, in addition to the prevalence of a specific micro-organism in a determinded geographical area, such differences may be associated mainly with exposure to certain pathogens in particular socioeconomic conditions. © 1992 The British Society for the Study of Infection.