Serological analysis of the heat-stable antigens involved in serotyping Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli.

Analysis with serotyping antisera showed that carbohydrate determinants were the dominant heat-stable antigens of Campylobacter jenuni/coli involved, whereas proteins did not contribute to the serological reactions. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) along with a polysaccharide extract from whole bacteria (PS(WB] conferred strain serospecificity. In general, analysis with monoclonal antibodies in passive haemagglutination and co-agglutination tests showed the existence of similar antigenic determinants in LPS and PS(WB) of the same strain. However, in some strains determinants were detectable in LPS but not in PS(WB) using monoclonal antibodies, in other strains the situation was reversed. All of these monoclonal antibodies reacted with LPS in the more sensitive immunoblotting technique. The presence of 2-keto-3-deoxyoctonic acid in PS(WB) preparations, in the absence of endotoxin, supported the conclusion that PS(WB) was derived from LPS during extraction. The lack of detection of a reaction by monoclonal antibodies with LPS in passive haemagglutination, in contrast to immunoblotting, was suggested due to the presence of low concentrations of the relevant epitopes because of the procedure used to prepare the LPS tested.