Antigenic specificity of antibodies in vaginal secretions during infection with Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

Antibodies in genital secretions of patients with gonorrhea have been shown to inhibit the attachment of gonococci to epithelial cells. The gonococcal antigens for which these antibodies are specific were studied by adsorption of the genital secretions from a patient infected with gonorrhea with purified lipopolysaccharide, outer membrane complex, or purified pili of homologous Neisseria gonorrhoeae and measurement of the reduction of inhibition of attachment of the gonococci to epithelial cells. The removal of antibodies was documented with the use of a solid-phase radioimmunoassay in which the amount of antibody in the adsorbed secretions that bound to a specific gonococcal antigen was shown to be reduced as compared with the amount of antibody in unadsorbed secretions. The antibody in the secretions that inhibited attachment was removed primarily by adsorption with the homologous pili, not with homologous lipopolysaccharide. A preparation of the homologous outer membrane complex that contained pili, cell-wall proteins, and lipopolysaccharide also blocked the inhibitory antibody.