Immunologic Effects of Teichoic Acid, An Inanimate Bacterial Product in the Environment: A Review

Abstract

A variety of stable bacterial products such as lipopolysaccharide and teichoic acid are present ubiquitously in the environment. These substances have the potential for inducing extensive biological effects in animals, some of which are of great impact on the immune response. For example, injected or orally administered glycerol teichoic acid induces antibodies of unrelated specificities and may either enhance or suppress other immune responses nonspecifically. More importantly, environmental teichoic acid contained in the food of rats suppresses antibody responses to foreign erythrocytes. In view of this demonstrated suppression, the possibility exists for a dual immunologic regulatory role by bacterial substances in the environment.