Abstract
Recent observations from Africa have rekindled interest in the role of serum bactericidal antibodies in protecting against systemic infection with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. To determine whether the findings are applicable to other populations, we analyzed serum samples collected from healthy individuals in the United States. We found that all but 1 of the 49 adult samples tested had robust bactericidal activity against S. Typhimurium in a standard in vitro assay. The activity was dependent on complement and could be reproduced by immunoglobulin G (IgG) purified from the sera. The bactericidal activity was inhibited by competition with soluble lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from S. Typhimurium but not from Escherichia coli, consistent with recognition of a determinant in the O-antigen polysaccharide. Sera from healthy children aged 10 to 48 months also had bactericidal activity, although it was significantly less than in the adults, correlating with lower levels of LPS-specific IgM and IgG. The lone sample in our collection that lacked bactericidal activity was able to inhibit killing of S. Typhimurium by the other sera. The inhibition correlated with the presence of an LPS-specific IgM and was associated with decreased complement deposition on the bacterial surface. Our results indicate that healthy individuals can have circulating antibodies to LPS that either mediate or inhibit killing of S. Typhimurium. The findings contrast with the observations from Africa, which linked bactericidal activity to antibodies against an S. Typhimurium outer membrane protein and correlated the presence of inhibitory anti-LPS antibodies with human immunodeficiency virus infection.