lactoferrin and Urethritis

Topics: Anti-Bacterial Agents; Antibodies, Bacterial; Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; Bacterial Vaccines; Carrier State; Complement System Proteins; Drug Resistance, Microbial; Fallopian Tubes; Female; Fimbriae, Bacterial; Gonorrhea; Humans; Intrauterine Devices; Lactoferrin; Lipopolysaccharides; Male; Menstruation; Models, Biological; Mucus; Neisseria gonorrhoeae; Neutrophils; Salpingitis; Urethra; Urethritis; Vaccination; Vagina

Neisseria gonorrhoeae expresses receptors for both lactoferrin (LF) and transferrin (TF). To determine whether qualitative or quantitative changes in these receptors, or both, correlate with the pattern of disease due to N. gonorrhoeae, a dot binding assay with whole cells was used to measure the absolute receptor levels expressed during iron-limited growth of strains isolated from asymptomatic patients and patients with urethritis, cervicitis, pelvic inflammatory disease and disseminated infection. Lactoferrin and transferrin receptor complexes were purified by affinity chromatography and their protein profiles were compared. The molecular weights of the LF and TF receptor complexes from a representative sample of gonococci were homogeneous. We conclude that there is no relationship between the LF and TF receptor levels and disease manifestation, auxotype or serotype.

Topics: Carrier State; Cell Membrane; Chromatography, Affinity; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; Female; Gonorrhea; Humans; Lactoferrin; Male; Neisseria gonorrhoeae; Pelvic Inflammatory Disease; Receptors, Cell Surface; Receptors, Transferrin; Urethritis; Uterine Cervicitis