Hanna Ferløv Schwensen1, Claus Moser2, Michael Perch3, Tacjana Pressler4, Niels Høiby5. 1. Department of Clinical Microbiology, Rigshospitalet (Copenhagen University Hospital), Denmark. Electronic address: hannavfs@gmail.com. 2. Department of Clinical Microbiology, Rigshospitalet (Copenhagen University Hospital), Denmark. 3. Department of Cardiology, Section for Lung transplantation, Rigshospitalet, Denmark; Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. 4. Department of Infectious Diseases, Cystic Fibrosis Center Copenhagen, Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark. 5. Department of Clinical Microbiology, Rigshospitalet (Copenhagen University Hospital), Denmark; Department of International Health, Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Panum Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Specific Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) precipitating immunoglobulin G antibodies in serum are correlated with PA biofilm infection and are used as diagnostic and prognostic markers in cystic fibrosis (CF). The aim of this study was to examine the change of PA antibody response in CF patients after bilateral sequential lung transplantation (LTx). METHODS: PA antibodies and airway bacteriology were retrospectively evaluated in 20 chronically infected CF patients, who underwent LTx between 2001 and 2016 at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen. Yearly precipitin counts from one year before LTx and up to five years after LTx were compared. Monthly airway cultures were examined in the five-year period after LTx. In addition, crossed immunoelectrophoresis (CIE) were analysed for each patient for antigenic similarities from time of infection, pre-LTx and post-LTx. RESULTS: All patients experienced a significant drop in PA antibodies from one year pre-LTx to one year post-LTx (p < 0.0001). The PA antibody level did not differ between those, who became reinfected immediately after LTx, and those, who did not. No patients regained the high pre-LTx precipitin levels in the following five years. The antigenic specificities of the sera post-LTx were in each patient similar to the antigenic specificities at the beginning of infection indicating a decades long memory of their immune response like an "immunological fingerprint". CONCLUSIONS: After LTx a significant and continuous reduction in PA antibodies was observed. The reduction was independent of immediate reinfection after LTx. A novel three-factor explanatory model is presented.
BACKGROUND: Specific Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) precipitating immunoglobulin G antibodies in serum are correlated with PA biofilm infection and are used as diagnostic and prognostic markers in cystic fibrosis (CF). The aim of this study was to examine the change of PA antibody response in CF patients after bilateral sequential lung transplantation (LTx). METHODS:PA antibodies and airway bacteriology were retrospectively evaluated in 20 chronically infected CF patients, who underwent LTx between 2001 and 2016 at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen. Yearly precipitin counts from one year before LTx and up to five years after LTx were compared. Monthly airway cultures were examined in the five-year period after LTx. In addition, crossed immunoelectrophoresis (CIE) were analysed for each patient for antigenic similarities from time of infection, pre-LTx and post-LTx. RESULTS: All patients experienced a significant drop in PA antibodies from one year pre-LTx to one year post-LTx (p < 0.0001). The PA antibody level did not differ between those, who became reinfected immediately after LTx, and those, who did not. No patients regained the high pre-LTx precipitin levels in the following five years. The antigenic specificities of the sera post-LTx were in each patient similar to the antigenic specificities at the beginning of infection indicating a decades long memory of their immune response like an "immunological fingerprint". CONCLUSIONS: After LTx a significant and continuous reduction in PA antibodies was observed. The reduction was independent of immediate reinfection after LTx. A novel three-factor explanatory model is presented.