Serum IgG antibody to outer membrane antigens of Pseudomonas cepacia and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in cystic fibrosis.

IgG antibody to the outer membrane of Pseudomonas cepacia was quantified in sera from controls without cystic fibrosis (CF) and from Pseudomonas aeruginosa- and P. cepacia-infected and noninfected patients with CF. The mean antibody titer in the P. cepacia-infected group was significantly higher than that in the other three groups; the mean titer in the P. aeruginosa-infected group was significantly higher than that in the noninfected and control groups. Preabsorption of CF sera with P. cepacia outer membrane produced a significantly lower mean antibody concentration than did matched samples preabsorbed with an equal amount of lipopolysaccharide. By western blot, significantly more P. cepacia-infected patients produced IgG to the 27- than the 36-kilodalton (kDa) porin protein of P. cepacia; 12 of 16 P. aeruginosa-infected patients produced IgG to the 27-kDa porin. Sera from all patients in both groups contained IgG to the porin protein of P. aeruginosa by western blot. We conclude that the 27-kDa porin of P. cepacia is antigenic in most P. cepacia-infected patients with CF and that some P. cepacia outer membrane components may be antigenically related to those of P. aeruginosa.