Antibodies to porin antigens of Salmonella typhi induced during typhoid infection in humans

Immunoglobulin G (IgG)- and IgM-specific antibody titers against Salmonella typhi Ty2 porins have been measured in 30 paired typhoid sera by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. These studies have found that IgG serum titers of acute and convalescent sera were 625 and 5,000 times higher, respectively than the control serum titers. The same typhoid sera were titrated with S. typhi Ty2 flagellin and S. typhi lipopolysaccharide. The titers against these antigens were considerably lower than those against the porins. The highest IgM-specific titers has also been found against porins in convalescent-phase sera. However, the largest increase in IgM-specific titer compared with the control group titer was obtained against flagellin during the acute phase of typhoid. The lowest increases in antibody titer were obtained with the IgM-specific anti-lipopolysaccharide in both types of sera. This may be because many normal individuals in endemic areas already have IgM titers against lipopolysaccharide. This study has provided good evidence that porins are excellent antigens and that IgG-specific antiporin titers may be of diagnostic value in typhoid infections in endemic areas.