Serological Response to Campylobacter Concisus Infection

Abstract

Campylobacters are important causes of enteritis worldwide. Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli are the species most commonly involved.³ Recently, several investigators have found an increased proportion of C. concisus, a Campylobacter mainly associated with the oral cavity, in faeces from patients with symptoms of enteritis.^5,13 Since we incubate our campylobacter media with filters in an atmosphere containing 7% H₂, a large number of C. concisus was isolated in our laboratory. The isolation rate of C. concisus for a 17 month period was 2.4% in children and 1.5% in adults.⁷ Most of the C. concisus culture-positive patients presented diarrhoea. However, the occasional isolation of C. concisus together with other enteric pathogens from faeces of patients with enteritis and the detection of the organism in many healthy individuals, do not support the etiologic role of C. concisus in patients with enteritis. To clarify the possible pathogenicity of C. concisus, a study of the immune response to C. concisus was needed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antibody response in a large group of patients with C. concisus culture-positive enteritis using a solid-phase enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western blot analysis.