No compelling evidence that vaccination with streptococcus pyogenes group A carbohydrate elicits cross-reactive rheumatic fever autoantibodies
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Parks, Thomas
Cunningham, Madeliene W
Saul, Allan
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We reviewed 70 years of research defining the specificity of anti-group A carbohydrate (GAC)
monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies and antibodies raised against other S. pyogenes components
reacting with GAC. While some rheumatic fever associated autoantibodies react with N-Acetyl-β-D glucosamine sidechains of GAC and cross-react with tissues, these appear to be a consequence, not
the cause, of autoimmunity. We propose GAC be considered further as a broadly protective group A
streptococcal vaccine.
monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies and antibodies raised against other S. pyogenes components
reacting with GAC. While some rheumatic fever associated autoantibodies react with N-Acetyl-β-D glucosamine sidechains of GAC and cross-react with tissues, these appear to be a consequence, not
the cause, of autoimmunity. We propose GAC be considered further as a broadly protective group A
streptococcal vaccine.
Date Issued
2025-11-03
Date Acceptance
2025-09-09
Citation
npj Vaccines, 2025, 10
ISSN
2059-0105
Publisher
Nature Portfolio
Journal / Book Title
npj Vaccines
Volume
10
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2025, modified publication 2025 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
224
Date Publish Online
2025-11-03