Low virus-specific IgG antibodies in adverse clinical course and outcome of tick-borne encephalitis

Bogovič, Petra (author), Lotrič-Furlan, Stanka (author), Avšič-Županc, Tatjana (author), Korva, Miša (author), Lusa, Lara (author), Strle, Klemen (author), Strle, Franc (author)

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is associated with a range of disease severity. The reasons for this heterogeneity are not clear. Levels of serum IgG antibodies to TBE virus (TBEV) were determined in 691 adult patients during the meningoencephalitic phase of TBE and correlated with detailed clinical and laboratory parameters during acute illness and with the presence of post-encephalitic syndrome (PES) 2–7 years after TBE. Specific IgG antibody levels ranged from below cut-off value (in 32/691 patients, 4.6%), to 896 U/mL (median = 37.3 U/mL). Patients with meningoencephalomyelitis were more often seronegative (24.3%; 9/37) than those with meningoencephalitis (4.7%; 20/428) or meningitis (1.3%; 3/226). Moreover, patients with antibody levels below cut-off had longer hospitalization (13 versus 8 days); more often required intensive care unit treatment (22% versus 8%) and artificial ventilation (71% versus 21%); and had a higher fatality rate (3/32; 9.4% versus 1/659; 0.2%) than seropositive patients. These results were confirmed when antibody levels, rather than cut-off values, were correlated with clinical parameters including the likelihood to develop PES. Low serum IgG antibody responses against TBEV at the onset of neurologic involvement are associated with a more difficult clinical course and unfavorable long-term outcome of TBE, providing a diagnostic and clinical challenge for physicians.

• Language: English
• Keywords: tick-borne encephalitis, humoral immune response, serum IgG antibodies, course, outcome
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: MF - Faculty of Medicine
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2021
• Number of pages: 12 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 9, iss. 2, art. 332
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-135014
• UDC: 616.9
• ISSN on article: 2076-2607
• DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms9020332
• COBISS.SI-ID: 51124995
• Publication date in RUL: 17.02.2022

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Microorganisms
• Shortened title: Microorganisms
• Publisher: MDPI AG
• ISSN: 2076-2607
• COBISS.SI-ID: 523277081

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.
• Licensing start date: 07.02.2021