Objectives: To evaluate the association of mannose-binding lectin (MBL) deficiency with susceptibility and clinical features of group B Streptococcus (GBS) causing meningitis in Chinese infants.
Methods: During 2014-2017, 33 infants with laboratory-confirmed GBS meningitis were included. Six polymorphisms (H/L, Y/X, P/Q, A/D, A/B and A/C) of MBL were sought for in these patients and in 330 healthy controls by PCR-based sequencing. Serum MBL concentration was determined.
Results: Significantly higher frequency of MBL variant genotype A/B was found in patients than controls (15/33, 45%, vs. 79/330, 24%, p=0.011). Patients with variant genotype A/B had significantly lower serum MBL than those with wild-type genotype A/A (median, 482.87 vs. 1455.13 ng/mL, p=0.002). Moreover, patients with genotype A/B had significantly higher level of C-reactive protein (median, 146 vs. 41 mg/L, p=0.007), neutrophil (median, 58.1% vs. 45.7%, p=0.033) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in blood (median, 2.32 vs. 1.03, p=0.018) compared to those with genotype A/A. No significant differences were observed in clinical features of patients with different genotypes.
Conclusions: Our result suggested that infants with MBL deficiency are at higher risk of meningitis caused by GBS. Further studies in different populations with larger number of subjects are needed.
Keywords: China; ELISA; Genotyping; Group B streptococci; Infants; Mannose-binding lectin; Meningitis.
Copyright © 2018 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.