Occupational Exposure to Swine, Poultry, and Cattle and Antibody Biomarkers of Campylobacter jejuni Exposure and Autoimmune Peripheral Neuropathy

INTRODUCTION: Foodborne Campylobacter jejuni infection has been associated with an increased risk of autoimmune peripheral neuropathy, but risks of occupational exposure to C. jejuni have received less attention. This study compared anti-C. jejuni IgA, IgG, and IgM antibody levels, as well as the li...

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Autores principales: Vegosen, Leora, Breysse, Patrick N., Agnew, Jacqueline, Gray, Gregory C., Nachamkin, Irving, Sheikh, Kazim, Kamel, Freya, Silbergeld, Ellen
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2015
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Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4670215/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26636679
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0143587
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author Vegosen, Leora
Breysse, Patrick N.
Agnew, Jacqueline
Gray, Gregory C.
Nachamkin, Irving
Sheikh, Kazim
Kamel, Freya
Silbergeld, Ellen
author_facet Vegosen, Leora
Breysse, Patrick N.
Agnew, Jacqueline
Gray, Gregory C.
Nachamkin, Irving
Sheikh, Kazim
Kamel, Freya
Silbergeld, Ellen
author_sort Vegosen, Leora
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Foodborne Campylobacter jejuni infection has been associated with an increased risk of autoimmune peripheral neuropathy, but risks of occupational exposure to C. jejuni have received less attention. This study compared anti-C. jejuni IgA, IgG, and IgM antibody levels, as well as the likelihood of testing positive for any of five anti-ganglioside autoantibodies, between animal farmers and non-farmers. Anti-C. jejuni antibody levels were also compared between farmers with different animal herd or flock sizes. The relationship between anti-C. jejuni antibody levels and detection of anti-ganglioside autoantibodies was also assessed. METHODS: Serum samples from 129 Agricultural Health Study swine farmers (some of whom also worked with other animals) and 46 non-farmers, all from Iowa, were analyzed for anti-C. jejuni antibodies and anti-ganglioside autoantibodies using ELISA. Information on animal exposures was assessed using questionnaire data. Anti-C. jejuni antibody levels were compared using Mann-Whitney tests and linear regression on log-transformed outcomes. Fisher’s Exact Tests and logistic regression were used to compare likelihood of positivity for anti-ganglioside autoantibodies. RESULTS: Farmers had significantly higher levels of anti-C. jejuni IgA (p < 0.0001) and IgG (p = 0.02) antibodies compared to non-farmers. There was no consistent pattern of anti-C. jejuni antibody levels based on animal herd or flock size. A higher percentage of farmers (21%) tested positive for anti-ganglioside autoantibodies compared to non-farmers (9%), but this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.11). There was no significant association between anti-C. jejuni antibody levels and anti-ganglioside autoantibodies. CONCLUSIONS: The findings provide evidence that farmers who work with animals may be at increased risk of exposure to C. jejuni. Future research should include longitudinal studies of exposures and outcomes, as well as studies of interventions to reduce exposure. Policies to reduce occupational exposure to C. jejuni should be considered.
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spelling pubmed-46702152015-12-10 Occupational Exposure to Swine, Poultry, and Cattle and Antibody Biomarkers of Campylobacter jejuni Exposure and Autoimmune Peripheral Neuropathy Vegosen, Leora Breysse, Patrick N. Agnew, Jacqueline Gray, Gregory C. Nachamkin, Irving Sheikh, Kazim Kamel, Freya Silbergeld, Ellen PLoS One Research Article INTRODUCTION: Foodborne Campylobacter jejuni infection has been associated with an increased risk of autoimmune peripheral neuropathy, but risks of occupational exposure to C. jejuni have received less attention. This study compared anti-C. jejuni IgA, IgG, and IgM antibody levels, as well as the likelihood of testing positive for any of five anti-ganglioside autoantibodies, between animal farmers and non-farmers. Anti-C. jejuni antibody levels were also compared between farmers with different animal herd or flock sizes. The relationship between anti-C. jejuni antibody levels and detection of anti-ganglioside autoantibodies was also assessed. METHODS: Serum samples from 129 Agricultural Health Study swine farmers (some of whom also worked with other animals) and 46 non-farmers, all from Iowa, were analyzed for anti-C. jejuni antibodies and anti-ganglioside autoantibodies using ELISA. Information on animal exposures was assessed using questionnaire data. Anti-C. jejuni antibody levels were compared using Mann-Whitney tests and linear regression on log-transformed outcomes. Fisher’s Exact Tests and logistic regression were used to compare likelihood of positivity for anti-ganglioside autoantibodies. RESULTS: Farmers had significantly higher levels of anti-C. jejuni IgA (p < 0.0001) and IgG (p = 0.02) antibodies compared to non-farmers. There was no consistent pattern of anti-C. jejuni antibody levels based on animal herd or flock size. A higher percentage of farmers (21%) tested positive for anti-ganglioside autoantibodies compared to non-farmers (9%), but this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.11). There was no significant association between anti-C. jejuni antibody levels and anti-ganglioside autoantibodies. CONCLUSIONS: The findings provide evidence that farmers who work with animals may be at increased risk of exposure to C. jejuni. Future research should include longitudinal studies of exposures and outcomes, as well as studies of interventions to reduce exposure. Policies to reduce occupational exposure to C. jejuni should be considered. Public Library of Science 2015-12-04 /pmc/articles/PMC4670215/ /pubmed/26636679 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0143587 Text en https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Public Domain declaration, which stipulates that, once placed in the public domain, this work may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose.
spellingShingle Research Article
Vegosen, Leora
Breysse, Patrick N.
Agnew, Jacqueline
Gray, Gregory C.
Nachamkin, Irving
Sheikh, Kazim
Kamel, Freya
Silbergeld, Ellen
Occupational Exposure to Swine, Poultry, and Cattle and Antibody Biomarkers of Campylobacter jejuni Exposure and Autoimmune Peripheral Neuropathy
title Occupational Exposure to Swine, Poultry, and Cattle and Antibody Biomarkers of Campylobacter jejuni Exposure and Autoimmune Peripheral Neuropathy
title_full Occupational Exposure to Swine, Poultry, and Cattle and Antibody Biomarkers of Campylobacter jejuni Exposure and Autoimmune Peripheral Neuropathy
title_fullStr Occupational Exposure to Swine, Poultry, and Cattle and Antibody Biomarkers of Campylobacter jejuni Exposure and Autoimmune Peripheral Neuropathy
title_full_unstemmed Occupational Exposure to Swine, Poultry, and Cattle and Antibody Biomarkers of Campylobacter jejuni Exposure and Autoimmune Peripheral Neuropathy
title_short Occupational Exposure to Swine, Poultry, and Cattle and Antibody Biomarkers of Campylobacter jejuni Exposure and Autoimmune Peripheral Neuropathy
title_sort occupational exposure to swine, poultry, and cattle and antibody biomarkers of campylobacter jejuni exposure and autoimmune peripheral neuropathy
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4670215/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26636679
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0143587
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