Age-Dependent Association of Human Mannose-Binding Lectin Mutations With Susceptibility to Invasive Meningococcal Disease in Childhood

Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is an important factor of the innate immune system, and MBL-initiated complement activation is an important early defense mechanism against various bacterial infections, including invasive meningococcal disease.In a pediatric cohort (ages 2-215 months) with invasive meningococcal disease, we investigated the overall and age-stratified frequency of 3 MBL exon 1 variations (C154T, G161A, G170A), previously shown to result in markedly decreased MBL plasma concentrations, by allele specific fluorescent hybridization probe real-time PCR assays and direct sequencing. Healthy age-matched volunteers with the same ethnic background and no history of meningococcal disease…