Differential Immune Response in Children to Throat Specialist Versus Generalist Group A Streptococci

first_page Download PDF settings Order Article Reprints Font Type: Arial Georgia Verdana Font Size: Aa Aa Aa Line Spacing:    Column Width:    Background: Open AccessAbstract Differential Immune Response in Children to Throat Specialist Versus Generalist Group A Streptococci † by Debra E. BessenDebra E. Bessen SciProfiles Scilit Preprints.org Google Scholar *, Jeanne M. DiChiaraJeanne M. DiChiara SciProfiles Scilit Preprints.org Google Scholar , Freda F. TeiFreda F. Tei SciProfiles Scilit Preprints.org Google Scholar , Ji Ho LeeJi Ho Lee SciProfiles Scilit Preprints.org Google Scholar , Ari ShechtmanAri Shechtman SciProfiles Scilit Preprints.org Google Scholar , Shivaleela KeerthyShivaleela Keerthy SciProfiles Scilit Preprints.org Google Scholar , Suchitra BhattacharjeeSuchitra Bhattacharjee SciProfiles Scilit Preprints.org Google Scholar , Luiza KarrerLuiza Karrer SciProfiles Scilit Preprints.org Google Scholar and Sang Ho LeeSang Ho Lee SciProfiles Scilit Preprints.org Google Scholar Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY 10595, USA * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. † Presented at the 22nd Lancefield International Symposium on Streptococci and Streptococcal Diseases, Brisbane, Australia, 1–5 June 2025. Proceedings 2025, 124(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2025124011 Published: 15 August 2025 (This article belongs to the Proceedings of The 22nd Lancefield International Symposium on Streptococci and Streptococcal Diseases (LISSSD 2025)) Download keyboard_arrow_down Download PDF Download PDF with Cover Download XML Download Epub Versions Notes Keywords: strep A infection; M protein; pilin type; streptolysin O; deoxyribonuclease B Background: The antigenic heterogeneity of GAS poses a challenge for vaccine design. The age-based incidence of GAS infection—peaking in childhood and lowering by adulthood—is believed to reflect the buildup of protective immunity following repeated infections early in life.Methods: Serial pediatric serum samples (N > 550) obtained at ~4-month intervals from 86 subjects (USA) were tested for antibody binding to recombinant GAS polypeptides by ELISA.Results: Type-specific M and T protein antigens (N = 14) were tested for binding by serum IgG. Data show ~67 new GAS 'infections', as defined by increased IgG immunoreactivity over time. Paired comparisons between pre- and post-infection sera indicate highly significant increases in both ASO and ADB titers (t < 0.005), whereby pre-infection titers were not elevated in ~78% of subjects (<ULN80). Thus, the highly conserved SLO and DNaseB antigens have characteristics expected for the childhood buildup of protective immunity: low titers pre-infection and high titers post-infection. However, infections by emm pattern A-C throat specialist strains (N = 22) showed significant increases for ASO only (t < 0.02), whereas an increased ADB is observed with pattern E generalists (N = 30; t < 0.05). Ongoing analyses of semi-conserved cell surface proteins derived from the M- and FCT-regions aim to identify antigen combinations that provide protective immunity against the genetically distinct GAS subpopulations.Conclusions: In a host population where GAS pharyngitis predominates, the pediatric immune response to conserved GAS antigens differs for throat specialist versus generalist strains. Antibody titers pre-infection versus post-infection can guide models for vaccine design. Author ContributionsConceptualization, D.E.B.; formal analysis, D.E.B., L.K., S.H.L. and J.M.D.; investigation, J.M.D., F.F.T., S.B., A.S., S.K. and J.H.L.; funding acquisition, D.E.B. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.FundingThis research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, grant number R01AI173565.Institutional Review Board StatementThe study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Institutional Review Board of New York Medical College (protocol code 15887 on 22 August 2022).Informed Consent StatementInformed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the initial blood collection study; the work reported here was deemed exempt: (4) Secondary Research Uses of Data or Specimens.Data Availability StatementThis is a conference abstract based on preliminary findings and analysis of data from an ongoing study.Conflicts of InterestThe authors declare no conflict of interest.Disclaimer/Publisher's Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content. © 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Share and Cite MDPI and ACS Style Bessen, D.E.; DiChiara, J.M.; Tei, F.F.; Lee, J.H.; Shechtman, A.; Keerthy, S.; Bhattacharjee, S.; Karrer, L.; Lee, S.H. Differential Immune Response in Children to Throat Specialist Versus Generalist Group A Streptococci. Proceedings 2025, 124, 11. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2025124011 AMA Style Bessen DE, DiChiara JM, Tei FF, Lee JH, Shechtman A, Keerthy S, Bhattacharjee S, Karrer L, Lee SH. Differential Immune Response in Children to Throat Specialist Versus Generalist Group A Streptococci. Proceedings. 2025; 124(1):11. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2025124011 Chicago/Turabian Style Bessen, Debra E., Jeanne M. DiChiara, Freda F. Tei, Ji Ho Lee, Ari Shechtman, Shivaleela Keerthy, Suchitra Bhattacharjee, Luiza Karrer, and Sang Ho Lee. 2025. "Differential Immune Response in Children to Throat Specialist Versus Generalist Group A Streptococci" Proceedings 124, no. 1: 11. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2025124011 APA Style Bessen, D. E., DiChiara, J. M., Tei, F. F., Lee, J. H., Shechtman, A., Keerthy, S., Bhattacharjee, S., Karrer, L., & Lee, S. H. (2025). Differential Immune Response in Children to Throat Specialist Versus Generalist Group A Streptococci. Proceedings, 124(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2025124011 Article Metrics No No Article Access Statistics Multiple requests from the same IP address are counted as one view.