Abstract
Extract: In infants colonized with a nonenteropathogenic strain, Escherichia coli 083, the strain was detected in the stool from the 2nd day after oral administration and remained in predominance during 16 weeks. The serum antibody against E. coli 083 increased rapidly during the 4th week in breast-fed and in formula-fed, colonized infants and remained significantly higher for 16 weeks when compared with control subjects. Lysozyme did not influence the serum immunoglobulin levels.
The production of hemagglutinating coproantibody against E. coli 083 started in the 2nd week and remained statistically significant up to the 6th week in breast-fed infants. In bottle-fed, colonized infants the increase of the antibody level is significantly higher between the 4th and 16th week when compared with control subjects. Immunoglobulin M (IgM) was detected in bottle-fed infants only.
In breast-fed, colonized infants and in control subjects, a high level of secretory immunoglobulin A (IgA) was found between the 1st and 8th week. In bottle-fed, colonized infants the increase of secretory IgA started from the 4th week and stayed significantly higher in the 6th, 12th, and 16th week. No immunoglobulin G (IgG) at all was found in stool filtrates.
Lysozyme did not influence the production of serum immunoglobulins, coproantibody, and secretory IgA.
The artificial oral colonization induced a higher formation of secretory IgA in the intestinal mucosa. This effect can be detected in bottle-fed infants only, as the infants own production of IgA is masked by IgA passively transferred from maternal milk during breast feeding.
Speculation: Oral colonization of neonates with a nonenteropathogenic E. coli may provide a better state of immunity for artificially fed infants. The unusual ability of the E. coli 083 strain to predominate in the stool for prolonged periods could be used as a therapeutic approach for enteric infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria and for individuals with altered stool flora due to prolonged antimicrobial therapy.
Colonization experiments such as these confirm that the immune responses of human neonates are a useful model for the study of this important developmental phenomenon.
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Lodinová, R., Jouja, V. & Wagner, V. Serum Immunoglobulins and Coproantibody Formation in Infants after Artificial Intestinal Colonization with Escherichia coli 083 and Oral Lysozyme Administration. Pediatr Res 7, 659–669 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197307000-00009
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197307000-00009
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