ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses three selected aspects: species, tissue, and individual specificity of glycosphingolipid patterns and host pathogen interactions; some experimental peculiarities in the testing of glycosphingolipids as receptors for bacteria; and evidence for fimbriae as the bacterial ligand binding to host glycolipids. The glycosphingolipid composition varies extensively for one tissue in different species, for different tissues of one species, and between individuals of the same species. The glycolipid diversity is sufficient to make such compounds candidates as specific receptors in many systems. The evidence that the receptor specificity of the bacterial adhesins and the presence of receptors on the host tissues have clinical consequences has best been established for E. coli bacteria carrying the adhesin K88, which cause small intestinal infection in neonatal pigs. The K88 antigen confers the ability to the bacteria to bind to the intestinal epithelium.
