Comparative inflammatory properties of staphylococcal superantigenic enterotoxins SEA and SEG: implications for septic shock

• Published in: Journal of leukocyte biology Vol. 80; no. 4; pp. 753 - 758
• Main Authors: Dauwalder, Olivier, Thomas, Damien, Ferry, Tristan, Debard, Anne‐Lise, Badiou, Cédric, Vandenesch, François, Etienne, Jerome, Lina, Gerard, Monneret, Guillaume
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Society for Leukocyte Biology 01.10.2006
• Subjects: Antigens, CD - biosynthesis; Antigens, CD - drug effects; Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte - biosynthesis; Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte - drug effects; bacterial; Chemokine CCL3; Chemokine CCL4; chemokines; cytokines; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Enterotoxins - immunology; Enterotoxins - pharmacology; Humans; Inflammation - immunology; Lectins, C-Type; Leukocytes, Mononuclear - drug effects; Leukocytes, Mononuclear - immunology; Macrophage Inflammatory Proteins - biosynthesis; Shock, Septic - immunology; Staphylococcus aureus; Structure-Activity Relationship; superantigens; Superantigens - immunology; Superantigens - pharmacology; T-Lymphocytes - drug effects; T-Lymphocytes - immunology; Th1 Cells - drug effects; Th1 Cells - immunology; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - biosynthesis; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - drug effects
• ISSN: 0741-5400; 1938-3673
• DOI: 10.1189/jlb.0306232

The severity of Staphylococcus aureus sepsis is positively associated with staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) and negatively associated with the enterotoxin gene cluster (egc), which encodes five staphylococcal enterotoxins [1]. We postulated that the variable, clinical severity of S. aureus sepsis might be a result of differences in the inflammatory properties of staphylococcal superantigens. We therefore compared the inflammatory properties of SEA with those of staphylococcal entérotoxin G (SEG), a member of the five egc superantigens. We found that SEA and SEG had similar superantigenic properties, as they induced CD69 expression on T lymphocytes and selective expansion of Vβ subpopulations. Contrary to SEG, however, SEA induced a strong proinflammatory/Th1 response, including TNF‐α and MIP‐1α production. These results suggest that the association of SEA with the severity of S. aureus septic shock, characterized by a deleterious, inflammatory cascade, may be explained partly by the specific proinflammatory properties of this superantigen.