Mannose-Binding Lectin Deficiency and Respiratory Tract Infection

Abstract

Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is an innate immune system pattern recognition protein that kills a wide range of pathogenic microbes through complement activation. A substantial proportion of all human populations studied to date have MBL deficiency due to MBL2 polymorphisms, which potentially increases susceptibility to infectious disease. MBL binds numerous respiratory pathogens but the capsule of Streptococcus pneumoniae abrogates its efficient binding. Clinical studies in humans have shown that MBL deficiency appears to predispose to severe respiratory tract infection. A recent meta-analysis shows that MBL deficiency was associated with death in patients with pneumococcal infection after a..