Detection of Fecal and Serum Antibodies Against Enterotoxigenic Escherichia
coli Toxins and Colonization Factors in Deployed U.S.
Military Personnel During Operation Bright Star 2001 - Egypt
1El-Mohamady H, 1Francis W, 1Shaheen
HI, 2Rozmajzl P, 2Rockabrand DM, 1&3Karim
AK, 4Hall ER and 5Sanders JW
1Naval Medical Research Unit-3, Cairo, Egypt, 2Naval
Medical Research Center, Bethesda, Maryland, 3Faculty of Pharmacy,
Misr International University (MIU), Cairo, Egypt, 4Naval Medical
Research Center Detachment, Peru and 5National Naval Medical Center,
Bethesda, Maryland
Infection caused by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli
(ETEC) poses a significant health problem in children and adults residing in
endemic developing countries. Acute and convalescent paired stool and serum
samples were obtained from 27 US
military personnel with ETEC-induced diarrhea during a military exercise in Egypt. In
general, the concentration of total fecal and circulatory anti-LT IgA was
significantly increased in convalescent specimens than in the paired acute ones
in almost 65 % of the cases. The pattern of specific antibody responses in
fecal and serum samples from cases with ETEC expressing the antigens coli
surface 1 (CS1), CS2, CS3 and CS6 were, on the other hand, not conclusive due to
the small numbers of the study cases. Further research is still required to
understand the immunologic responses during the natural course of disease. The
data obtained, nevertheless, may help current research efforts on the
development of vaccines for humans against ETEC infection.