Staphylococcal opsonization and anti-Staphylococcus aureus IgG subclass antibodies in patients with severe or recurrent S. aureus infections.

Opsonization of Staphylococcus aureus (Oxford strain) and specific IgG subclass antibodies against formalised staphylococci were measured in plasmas from 27 patients with significant S. aureus infections and 35 healthy adults and 15 children. There were no statistically significant differences in the IgG2 and IgG4 levels between two groups and IgG3 was not detected, but the median plasma IgG1 level was significantly higher in patients with staphylococcal infections (P less than 0.00003). The concentration of IgG2 anti-S. aureus antibodies was 25-47 times greater than that of IgG1. If plasmas were decomplemented, the raised IgG1 levels were associated with increased opsonophagocytosis by normal neutrophils (P less than 0.0002).