Immunogenicity of a whole-cell pertussis vaccine with low lipopolysaccharide content in infants.

Clinical and vaccine immunology : CVI 2009 Apr

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The lack of a clear correlation between the levels of antibody to pertussis antigens and protection against disease lends credence to the possibility that cell-mediated immunity provides primary protection against disease. This phase I comparative trial had the aim of comparing the in vitro cellular immune response and anti-pertussis toxin (anti-PT) immunoglobulin G (IgG) titers induced by a cellular pertussis vaccine with low lipopolysaccharide (LPS) content (wP(low) vaccine) with those induced by the conventional whole-cell pertussis (wP) vaccine. A total of 234 infants were vaccinated at 2, 4, and 6 months with the conventional wP vaccine or the wP(low) vaccine. Proliferation of CD3(+) T cells was evaluated by flow cytometry after 6 days of peripheral blood mononuclear cell culture with stimulation with heat-killed Bordetella pertussis or phytohemagglutinin (PHA). CD3(+), CD4(+), CD8(+), and T-cell receptor gammadelta-positive (gammadelta(+)) cells were identified in the gate of blast lymphocytes. Gamma interferon, tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-4 (IL-4), and IL-10 levels in supernatants and serum anti-PT IgG levels were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The net percentage of CD3(+) blasts in cultures with B. pertussis in the group vaccinated with wP was higher than that in the group vaccinated with the wP(low) vaccine (medians of 6.2% for the wP vaccine and 3.9% for the wP(low) vaccine; P = 0.029). The frequencies of proliferating CD4(+), CD8(+), and gammadelta(+) cells, cytokine concentrations in supernatants, and the geometric mean titers of anti-PT IgG were similar for the two vaccination groups. There was a significant difference between the T-cell subpopulations for B. pertussis and PHA cultures, with a higher percentage of gammadelta(+) cells in the B. pertussis cultures (P < 0.001). The overall data did suggest that wP vaccination resulted in modestly better specific CD3(+) cell proliferation, and gammadelta(+) cell expansions were similar with the two vaccines.

Citation

Tatiane Queiroz Zorzeto, Hisako Gondo Higashi, Marcos Tadeu Nolasco da Silva, Emilia de Faria Carniel, Waldely Oliveira Dias, Vanessa Domingues Ramalho, Taís Nitsch Mazzola, Simone Corte Batista Souza Lima, André Moreno Morcillo, Marco Antonio Stephano, Maria Angela Reis de Góes Antonio, Maria de Lurdes Zanolli, Isaias Raw, Maria Marluce dos Santos Vilela. Immunogenicity of a whole-cell pertussis vaccine with low lipopolysaccharide content in infants. Clinical and vaccine immunology : CVI. 2009 Apr;16(4):544-50