Antibody response to bacteriophage hyaluronidase in acute glomerulonephritis after group A streptococcal infection.

In a test of the hypothesis that lysogeny of group A streptococci by a temperate bacteriophage might confer nephritogenicity, 283 sera from 69 patients were examined for IgG and IgM antibodies to M 49 streptococcal bacteriophage hyaluronidase. The IgG and IgM response to bacteriophage hyaluronidase was greatest in M 49 streptococci-infected individuals with nephritis, but M 49 streptococci-infected subjects without nephritis also had a greater immune response than did subjects infected with serotypes other than M 49. Although antibody to bacterial hyaluronidase was detected in all Streptococcus-infected groups, antibody to M 49 streptococcal bacteriophage hyaluronidase usually was found in only M 49 streptococci-infected patients. Although the greatest IgG and IgM antibody response to bacteriophage hyaluronidase can be demonstrated in individuals with glomerulonephritis, the antibody response does not indicate a direct relation of lysogeny and nephritis because subjects with and without nephritis after M 49 streptococcal infection all had a significant rise in antibody titer.