This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ausiello, C. M.
Right arrow Articles by Mastrantonio, P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ausiello, C. M.
Right arrow Articles by Mastrantonio, P.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, July 2003, p. 637-642, Vol. 10, No. 4
1071-412X/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.10.4.637-642.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

T-Cell Immune Response Assessment as a Complement to Serology and Intranasal Protection Assays in Determining the Protective Immunity Induced by Acellular Pertussis Vaccines in Mice

C. M. Ausiello,* R. Lande,{dagger} P. Stefanelli, C. Fazio, G. Fedele, R. Palazzo, F. Urbani, and P. Mastrantonio

Department of Bacteriology and Medical Mycology, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy

Received 6 December 2002/ Returned for modification 25 February 2003/ Accepted 21 March 2003

The relative value of antibodies and/or T-cell immune responses to Bordetella pertussis antigens in the immunity induced by acellular pertussis (aP) vaccines is still an open issue, probably due to the incomplete knowledge on the mechanisms of protective immunity to pertussis. The relevance of T-cell immune responses in protection from pertussis has been demonstrated in murine and human models of infection; thus, in this study, the ability of different vaccine preparations of three component (pertussis toxin, filamentous hemagglutinin, and pertactin) aP vaccines to induce T-cell responses was investigated in mice. All vaccine preparations examined passed the immunogenicity control test, based on antibody titer assessment, according to European Pharmacopoeia standards, and protected mice from B. pertussis intranasal challenge, but not all preparations were able to prime T cells to pertussis toxin, the specific B. pertussis antigen. In particular, one vaccine preparation was unable to induce proliferation and gamma interferon (IFN-{gamma}) production while the other two gave borderline results. The evaluation of T-cell responses to pertussis toxin antigen may provide information on the protective immunity induced by aP vaccines in animal models. Considering the critical role of the axis interleukin-12-IFN-{gamma} for protection from pertussis, our results suggest that testing the induction of a key protective cytokine such as IFN-{gamma} could be an additional tool for the evaluation of the immune response induced by aP vaccines.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Bacteriology and Medical Mycology, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161 Rome, Italy. Phone: 39-06-49902890. Fax: 39-06-49387112. E-mail: ausiello{at}iss.it.

{dagger} Present address: Department of Immunology, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy.

Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, July 2003, p. 637-642, Vol. 10, No. 4
1071-412X/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.10.4.637-642.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»