Poster Presentation The 4th Prato Conference on Pore Forming Proteins 2018

Evidence of Clostridium perfringens epsilon toxin associated with multiple sclerosis (#63)

Monika Bokori-Brown 1 , Sariqa Wagley 1 , Helen Morcrette 1 , Andrea Malaspina 2 , Caroline D'Arcy 3 , Sharmilee Gnanapavand 2 , Nicholas Lewis 4 , Michel R Popoff 5 , Dominika Raciborska 2 , Richard Nicholas 6 , Ben Turner 7 , Richard W Titball 1
  1. College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exter, Exter, Devon, UK
  2. Blizard Institute , Queen Mary University, London, UK
  3. West London Neuroscience Centre, Charing Cross Hospital , London, UK
  4. MS Sciences, London, UK
  5. Bactéries Anaérobies et Toxines, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
  6. Division of Brain Sciences, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK
  7. Barts Health NHS Trust, Clinical Research Centre, London, UK

Background: It was recently reported that, using Western blotting, some multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in the United States had antibodies against epsilon toxin (Etx) from Clostridium perfringens, suggesting that the toxin may play a role in the disease.

Objective: We screened sera for the presence of antibodies against Etx from patients with clinically definite multiple sclerosis (CDMS), clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) or optic neuritis (ON) alongside age- and gender-matched healthy controls.

Methods: We screened sera from CDMS, CIS or ON patients alongside healthy controls by Western blotting. We also tested CDMS sera for reactivity with linear overlapping peptides (Pepscan) spanning the amino acid sequence of Etx.

Results: Using Western blotting, 24% of sera in the combined CDMS, CIS and ON groups (n = 125) reacted with Etx, while in the control group (n = 125) 10% of the samples reacted. Using Pepscan, 33% of sera tested reacted with at least one peptide, whereas in the control group only 16% of sera reacted. Out of 61 samples, 21 (43%) were positive to one or other testing methodology. Three samples were positive by Western blotting and Pepscan.

Conclusion: Our results broadly support the previous findings, and the role of Etx in the aetiology of MS warrants further investigation.