Cell-mediated immune responses to antigens of Bordetella pertussis and protection against pertussis in school children.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Increasing evidence suggests that cell-mediated immunity (CMI) is involved in immune response against Bordetella pertussis. However, there are practically no studies evaluating the significance of pertussis-specific CMI in relation to protection against clinical pertussis.

METHODS:

An outbreak of pertussis was studied prospectively in 13-year-old pupils in a rural school. B. pertussis infection was diagnosed by culture, microagglutination and enzyme immunoassay serology with the use of pertussis toxin, filamentous hemagglutinin and pertactin as antigens. Pertussis-specific CMI responses were assessed by in vitro proliferation assay of peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

RESULTS:

At the initial sampling 7 of 22 children had symptoms suggestive of pertussis and 15 were asymptomatic. Of the latter 3 remained healthy, 8 were later confirmed to have had asymptomatic infection, 3 developed laboratory-confirmed pertussis and 1 developed cough without laboratory evidence of pertussis. Initial in vitro proliferations of peripheral blood mononuclear cells induced by pertussis toxin, filamentous hemagglutinin and/or pertactin were positive in all 3 healthy children, in 6 of 8 children who had asymptomatic infection, but in none of the 3 children who later developed pertussis. Although some children who remained healthy had high values of antibodies, no clear association was found between initial serum antibody values and clinical outcome.

CONCLUSIONS:

These preliminary data suggest that CMI may have an important role in protection against clinical pertussis but do not exclude a role for antibodies. Furthermore the results stress a multifactorial nature of the immune protection against B. pertussis.

• Authors: N N Tran Minh, Q He, K Edelman, R M Olander, M K Viljanen, H Arvilommi, J Mertsola
• Journal: The Pediatric infectious disease journal (Pediatr Infect Dis J) Vol. 18 Issue 4 Pg. 366-70 (Apr 1999) ISSN: 0891-3668 [Print] United States
• PMID: 10223692 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Antibodies, Bacterial
• Antigens, Bacterial

Topics

• Adolescent
• Antibodies, Bacterial (analysis)
• Antigens, Bacterial (analysis)
• Bordetella pertussis (immunology, isolation & purification)
• Disease Outbreaks
• Female
• Humans
• Immunity, Cellular
• Longitudinal Studies
• Male
• Schools
• Whooping Cough (diagnosis, epidemiology, immunology, prevention & control)