Use of monoclonal antibodies to type Shigella flexneri in Bangladesh

A panel of 10 mouse and rat monoclonal antibodies specific for different type- and group-specific O-antigenic determinants of Shigella flexneri lipopolysaccharide was used to serotype 240 isolates of S. flexneri from Bangladesh. Three immunoglobulin M antibodies were used in a direct slide agglutination test; seven immunoglobulin G antibodies were absorbed to Staphylococcus aureus and used in a coagglutination assay. All but 13 of the isolated could be serotyped by using the monoclonal antibodies. The six most common serotypes were (in descending order) 2a, 2b, Y (E1037), 1a, 3a, and 1b and accounted for more than 80% of all isolates. Two of the nontypable strains were found to be of a new provisional serotype of S. flexneri (T. Wehler and N.I.A. Carlin, Eur. J. Biochem. 176:471-476, 1988). The 11 remaining strains were found to be rough and therefore nontypable. The serotyping scheme based on the panel of monoclonal antibodies is specific and holds the potential to be developed into a useful tool for epidemiological investigation. The study also demonstrates that the recently described E1037 antigen is commonly found among at least four serotypes (4a, 6, X, and Y) of S. flexneri.