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Description

Phosphorylcholine (PC) is considered as an important immunodominant determinant of pneumococcal teichoic acids. It is found in the cell walls of a variety of pathogenic and nonpathogenic microorganisms, including Streptococcus pneumoniae, lactobacillus, certain fungi, and nematodes. PC plays an important protective role in pneumococcal bacterial infection. It is also a major prerequisite for proinflammatory effects of PAF and PAF-like lipids.Antibodies to PC are naturally present in humans and their levels are reported to decline with age. Natural PC-specific antibodies are reported to constitute about 5 to 10% of the total IgM pool in humans. Antibodies to PC have been subdivided into two populations, Group I and II, based on their affinity for PC and p-nitrophenyl phosphorylcholine (NPPC). Group I anti-PCs bind both PC and NPCC whereas Group II require a phenyl group and bind only to NPPC. Anti-PC IgM, IgA, and IgG1 belong to the Group I and Anti-PC IgG2 is entirely made up of Group II antibodies. Anti-PC IgM has are reported to exhibit a negative correlation with atherosclerosis development in hypertensive individuals and low levels of anti-PC may be used to predict development of cardiovascular disease. (Ref.: Su, J., et al. (2006). Atherosclerosis. 188(1):160-166, Sjoberg, BG et al. (2009). Atherosclerosis. 203(2), 528-532).