Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.1.4.3 (phospholipase C)
 18,461 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used with purified alpha-toxin and teichoic acid preparations to measure the IgG and IgM response in Staphylococcus aureus infections. After determining antibodies in a normal population, cut-off levels were set for all age groups. ELISA with alpha-toxin was more sensitive than the antistaphylolysin neutralization test (ASTA). Determining IgM antibodies with the two antigens was found to be of limited diagnostic value. Positive IgG titers against alpha-toxin were found in 21 of 27 patients (78%) with endocarditis, 11 of 14 (79%) with complicated septicemia, eight of 20 (40%) with uncomplicated septicemia and in 12 of 22 (54%) with chronic osteomyelitis. The IgG responses to teichoic acid and alpha-toxin were somewhat different when measured by ELISA, and the parallel performance of the two assays resulted in improved serological diagnostics. The number of positive patients increased to 89%, 86%, 65% and 64%, respectively, in the four groups with a diagnostic specificity of 93%. In septicemic staphylococcal infections, the diagnosis could be established in all patients (28 of 28) with adequately spaced paired samples.
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PMID:The role of antibodies against alpha-toxin and teichoic acid in the diagnosis of staphylococcal infections. 686 37

S. aureus small-colony variants are a naturally occurring subpopulation which grow slowly and produce small colonies on routine media. They also demonstrate a number of other characteristics that are atypical for S. aureus including reduced alpha-toxin production and delayed coagulase activity. The connection of S. aureus SCVs with persistent and relapsing infections has been defined over the past decade, especially in patients with chronic osteomyelitis and in cystic fibrosis patients as demonstrated by prospective studies. While the studies with clinical isolates of SCVs suggested a link between electron transport-defective strains and persistent infections, a defined hemB mutant with the SCV phenotype provided strong additional evidence for these connections. The hemB mutant was phagocytosed by cultured endothelial cells, but did not lyse these cells, because the mutant produced very little alpha-toxin. The intracellular location may shield the SCVs from host defenses and antibiotics, thus providing one explanation for the difficulty in clearing S. aureus SCVs from host tissues.
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PMID:Staphylococcus aureus small colony variants: formation and clinical impact. 1121 1