Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection and humoral antibody response of patients with cystic fibrosis.

Study of the humoral antibody response of patients with cystic fibrosis to 
the heat-stable O (and possibly K) antigens of Pseudomonas aeruginosa revealed 
that these antibodies in significant titers do not lead to eradication 
of the microorganism from the respiratory tract. In three out of 
six patients, antibodies directed against the strains isolated from both sputum 
and the lungs at autopsy were present in elevated titers. The 
antibody response to P. aeruginosa is strikingly affected by the condition 
of the host and differs in patients with cystic fibrosis or 
with one or another kind of malignancy. 