{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,3]],"date-time":"2026-08-03T12:37:03Z","timestamp":1785760623335,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,9]],"date-time":"2023-10-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1696809600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program","award":["815568"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["815568"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>A sero-epidemiology study was conducted in Dhaka, Bangladesh between January 2020 and February 2021 to assess the immune responses to ETEC infection in adults and children. (1) Background: Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli infection is a main cause of diarrheal disease in endemic countries. The characterization of the immune responses evoked by natural infection can guide vaccine development efforts. (2) Methods: A total of 617 adult and 480 pediatric diarrheal patients were screened, and 43 adults and 46 children (below 5 years of age) with an acute ETEC infection completed the study. The plasma samples were analyzed for antibody responses against the ETEC toxins. (3) Results: Heat-stable toxin (ST)-positive ETEC is the main cause of ETEC infection in adults, unlike in children in an endemic setting. We detected very low levels of anti-ST antibodies, and no ST-neutralizing activity. However, infection with ETEC strains expressing the heat-labile toxin (LT) induced systemic antibody responses in less than 25% of subjects. The antibody levels against LTA and LTB, as well as cholera toxin (CT), correlated well. The anti-LT antibodies were shown to have LT- and CT- neutralizing activity. The antibody reactivity against linear LT epitopes did not correlate with toxin-neutralizing activity. (4) Conclusions: Unlike LT, ST is a poor antigen and even adults have low anti-ST antibody levels that do not allow for the detection of toxin-neutralizing activity.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms11102524","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,9]],"date-time":"2023-10-09T12:51:04Z","timestamp":1696855864000},"page":"2524","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Anti-Toxin Responses to Natural Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) Infection in Adults and Children in Bangladesh"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Petra","family":"Girardi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Eveliqure Biotechnologies GmbH, Karl-Farkas-Gasse 22, 1030 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Taufiqur Rahman","family":"Bhuiyan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), 68 Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani, Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Samuel B.","family":"Lundin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Gothenburg, 405 30 Goteborg, Sweden"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shushan","family":"Harutyunyan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Eveliqure Biotechnologies GmbH, Karl-Farkas-Gasse 22, 1030 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Irene","family":"Neuhauser","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Eveliqure Biotechnologies GmbH, Karl-Farkas-Gasse 22, 1030 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Farhana","family":"Khanam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), 68 Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani, Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"G\u00e1bor","family":"Nagy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CEBINA GmbH, Karl-Farkas-Gasse 22, 1030 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Val\u00e9ria","family":"Szij\u00e1rt\u00f3","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CEBINA GmbH, Karl-Farkas-Gasse 22, 1030 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tam\u00e1s","family":"Henics","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Eveliqure Biotechnologies GmbH, Karl-Farkas-Gasse 22, 1030 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eszter","family":"Nagy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Eveliqure Biotechnologies GmbH, Karl-Farkas-Gasse 22, 1030 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ali M.","family":"Harandi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Gothenburg, 405 30 Goteborg, Sweden"},{"name":"Vaccine Evaluation Center, BC Children\u2019s Hospital Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4H4, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Firdausi","family":"Qadri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), 68 Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani, Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"209","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(13)60844-2","article-title":"Burden and aetiology of diarrhoeal disease in infants and young children in developing countries (the Global Enteric Multicenter Study, GEMS): A prospective, case-control study","volume":"382","author":"Kotloff","year":"2013","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1291","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(16)31529-X","article-title":"Use of quantitative molecular diagnostic methods to identify causes of diarrhoea in children: A reanalysis of the GEMS case-control study","volume":"388","author":"Liu","year":"2016","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"909","DOI":"10.1016\/S1473-3099(17)30276-1","article-title":"Estimates of global, regional, and national morbidity, mortality, and aetiologies of diarrhoeal diseases: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015","volume":"17","author":"Troeger","year":"2017","journal-title":"Lancet Infect. 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