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Title
Pertussis toxin is required for pertussis vaccine encephalopathy.
AuthorSteinman L; Weiss A; Adelman N; Lim M; Zuniga R; Oehlert J; Hewlett E; Falkow S
Source
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A,
82:
24, 1985 Dec,
8733-6
AbstractA mouse model for encephalopathy induced by pertussis immunization has been described; it has features
that closely resemble some of the severe reactions, including seizures and a shock-like state leading
to death, occasionally seen after administration of Bordetella pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine. Susceptibility
to encephalopathy maps to genes of the major histocompatibility complex and correlates as well with the
genetic regulation of the level of antibody response to bovine serum albumin. In this study we have investigated
which bacterial determinant is responsible for the encephalopathy. Two lines of evidence implicate pertussis
toxin as the active bacterial component. Single-site mutants of B. pertussis with single affected virulence
factors were tested. A mutant that produces a defective pertussis toxin had greatly diminished capacity
to induce encephalopathy, whereas a hemolysin- and adenylate-cyclase-deficient avirulent mutant had the
same activity in the mouse model as a virulent strain. Purified pertussis toxin plus bovine serum albumin
was tested and found to induce the lethal encephalopathy, demonstrating that the toxin was the critical
constituent of B. pertussis responsible for encephalopathy.