Associations between invasive illness and antibody concentration were estimated by odds ratios (OR) and corresponding 95% CI, adjusted for sex and gestational age using logistic regression. (95% confidence interval 0.000 to 0.57) for antibodies to Rib. Summary These findings support the notion that antibodies to GBS surface proteins contribute to the safety against neonatal illness. strong class=”kwd-title” Keywords: group B streptococci, illness, antibody, protein , protein Rib Illness with group B streptococci ( em Streptococcus agalactiae /em ; GBS) is an important cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality in many countries including Sweden.1,2,3,4,5 As many as a quarter of pregnant women may be colonised with GBS during late pregnancy,6,7 having a concomitant risk of about 1% for his or her children Mouse monoclonal to NFKB1 to develop invasive GBS infection during the neonatal period.8 Animal studies have shown that Duocarmycin A vaccine induced antibodies to the polysaccharide capsule8 and to proteins revealed within the bacterial surface of GBS confer protective immunity.9,10,11,12 Our work focused on protective GBS surface proteins, particularly and Rib, which are expressed within the bacterial surface by most GBS strains that cause human being invasive neonatal illness.12,13,14 Immunisation of mice with highly purified preparations of and Rib efficiently shields against lethal infection with strains expressing the corresponding protein.13,15 The and Rib proteins have been extensively characterised and belong to a family of streptococcal proteins with extremely repetitive sequence.16,17,18 Animal antisera raised against the purified and Rib proteins show Duocarmycin A little or no cross reactivity, although the two proteins show extensive amino acid residue identity.12,13 Antibodies to type\specific capsular polysaccharide are present in human being sera, and low concentrations of such antibodies have been associated with neonatal GBS infection.19,20,21,22 Antibodies to GBS cell surface proteins also occur naturally in human being sera,9,23 and it has been suggested that low serum concentrations of such antibodies may favour event of neonatal GBS illness.24,25 However, studies comparing serum concentrations of antibodies to GBS proteins in infected neonates and their mothers with those in non\infected neonates are scarce.26,27 We hypothesised that transplacentally transferred antibodies to the and Rib proteins contribute to the safety of the neonate from GBS disease. Our objectives with this study were to Duocarmycin A compare the concentrations of antibodies to and Rib in sera from infected and non\infected neonates and their Duocarmycin A respective mothers. Subjects, materials, and methods Study design Cases were recruited from your neonatal wards at nine private hospitals in the southern portion of Sweden, covering a populace of 1 1.9 million. During the study period, October 1995 to December 1998, there were Duocarmycin A about 20?000 live births annually. In Sweden, almost all deliveries happen in hospital. Neonatal care is definitely available for all newborns, and seven of the nine neonatal wards in the study area present rigorous care with respiratory support. General screening by tradition for GBS in pregnant women is not carried out. A risk centered approach is used for prevention of GBS disease. The recruitment and dimensions of the study were based on the assumption of a prevalence of GBS carriage in late pregnancy of 25%.6,7 Control subjects were recruited from your neonatal ward at Lund University or college Hospital, the regional hospital of southern Sweden. Sera from female blood donors were used as research representing non\pregnant ladies. Analyses were performed in two methods. Firstly, comparisons were made between all instances and settings. In the next step, the cases were divided in two organizations according to manifestation of protein or Rib from the infecting strain and compared with the control group. Instances Neonates with tradition positive invasive GBS illness (septicaemia and/or meningitis) within eight days of parturition and their mothers were defined as cases. Sera were collected from both neonates and mothers. The gestational age, birth excess weight, and sex of the neonates and the age of.