{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T01:10:51Z","timestamp":1790644251892,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,19]],"date-time":"2022-12-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1671408000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"FINOVI Foundation"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Toxins"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Menstrual toxic shock syndrome (mTSS) is a rare life-threatening febrile illness that occurs in women using intravaginal menstrual protection. It is caused by toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1) produced by Staphylococcus aureus, triggering a sudden onset of rash and hypotension, subsequently leading to multiple organ failure. Detecting TSST-1 and S. aureus virulence factors in menstrual fluid could accelerate the diagnosis and improve therapeutic management of mTSS. However, menstrual fluid is a highly complex matrix, making detection of bacterial toxins challenging. Here, we present a mass-spectrometry-based proteomics workflow for the targeted, quantitative analysis of four S. aureus superantigenic toxins in menstrual fluids (TSST-1, SEA, SEC, and SED). This method was applied to characterize toxin levels in menstrual fluids collected from patients with mTSS and healthy women. Toxins were detectable in samples from patients with mTSS and one healthy donor at concentrations ranging from 0 to 0.46 \u00b5g\/mL for TSST-1, and 0 to 1.07 \u00b5g\/mL for SEC. SEA and SED were never detected in clinical specimens, even though many S. aureus strains were positive for the corresponding genes. The method presented here could be used to explore toxin production in vivo in users of intravaginal devices to improve the diagnosis, understanding, and prevention of mTSS.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/toxins14120886","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,19]],"date-time":"2022-12-19T09:05:09Z","timestamp":1671440709000},"page":"886","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Targeted Proteomics Analysis of Staphylococcal Superantigenic Toxins in Menstrual Fluid from Women with Menstrual Toxic Shock Syndrome (mTSS)"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7152-1768","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marie","family":"Cour\u00e7on","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Univ. Grenoble Alpes, INSERM, CEA, UMR BioSant\u00e9 U1292, CNRS, CEA, FR2048, 38000 Grenoble, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"C\u00e9dric","family":"Badiou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CIRI-Centre International de Recherche en Infectiologie, Team Staphylococcal Pathogenesis, Universit\u00e9 Claude Bernard Lyon 1, INSERM, U1111, CNRS, UMR5308, ENS Lyon, 69364 Lyon CEDEX 07, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mathilde","family":"Louwagie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Univ. Grenoble Alpes, INSERM, CEA, UMR BioSant\u00e9 U1292, CNRS, CEA, FR2048, 38000 Grenoble, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sibyle","family":"Etievant","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CIRI-Centre International de Recherche en Infectiologie, Team Staphylococcal Pathogenesis, Universit\u00e9 Claude Bernard Lyon 1, INSERM, U1111, CNRS, UMR5308, ENS Lyon, 69364 Lyon CEDEX 07, France"},{"name":"Centre National de R\u00e9f\u00e9rence de Staphylocoques-Institut des Agents Infectieux, LBMMS, H\u00f4pital de la Croix-Rousse, Hospices Civils de Lyon, 69317 Lyon CEDEX 04, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6216-9192","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michel","family":"Jaquinod","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Univ. Grenoble Alpes, INSERM, CEA, UMR BioSant\u00e9 U1292, CNRS, CEA, FR2048, 38000 Grenoble, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9236-7998","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"G\u00e9rard","family":"Lina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CIRI-Centre International de Recherche en Infectiologie, Team Staphylococcal Pathogenesis, Universit\u00e9 Claude Bernard Lyon 1, INSERM, U1111, CNRS, UMR5308, ENS Lyon, 69364 Lyon CEDEX 07, France"},{"name":"Centre National de R\u00e9f\u00e9rence de Staphylocoques-Institut des Agents Infectieux, LBMMS, H\u00f4pital de la Croix-Rousse, Hospices Civils de Lyon, 69317 Lyon CEDEX 04, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9098-8707","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Virginie","family":"Brun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Univ. Grenoble Alpes, INSERM, CEA, UMR BioSant\u00e9 U1292, CNRS, CEA, FR2048, 38000 Grenoble, France"},{"name":"Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CEA, LETI, Clinatec, 38000 Grenoble, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e00032-19","DOI":"10.1128\/CMR.00032-19","article-title":"Device-Associated Menstrual Toxic Shock Syndrome","volume":"33","author":"Schlievert","year":"2020","journal-title":"Clin. Microbiol. 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