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Role of immunoglobulin G subclasses in Q fever

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Abstract

The progression of Q fever to either acute or chronic disease has been attributed both to biological characteristics of the bacteria and to the host immune response. In order to determine whether a specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) subclass distribution could play a diagnostic or prognostic role in Q fever, IgG subclass levels were measured in patients with acute or chronic disease. It was observed that (i) IgG1 and IgG3 levels were elevated in patients with chronic Q fever compared to patients with acute disease or normal controls; (ii) variations over time reflected inverse complementary relationships of subclass levels, such as between IgG1 and IgG3 compared with IgG2 and IgG4, or an inverse relationship between IgG1 and IgG2; (iii) variations in IgG2 and IgG3 total subclass levels during follow-up of patients with chronic Q fever showed a decrease in IgG2 with a concomitant increase in IgG3 two years from disease onset. These findings indicate that measurements of IgG subclasses may be a simple, additional tool useful in the diagnosis of Q fever. This data raises the question of an unusual immunoregulatory mechanism in Q fever that is implicated in the presentation of the clinical disease.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Virología e Inmunología Sanitarias, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, 28220, Madrid, Spain

    M. T. Camacho, I. Outschoorn & A. Tellez

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  1. M. T. Camacho
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  2. I. Outschoorn
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  3. A. Tellez
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Camacho, M.T., Outschoorn, I. & Tellez, A. Role of immunoglobulin G subclasses in Q fever. Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 14, 1070–1075 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01590941

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