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Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, March 1998, p. 247-250, Vol. 5, No. 2
1071-412X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Kinetics of Local and Systemic Immune Responses to an Oral Cholera Vaccine Given Alone or Together with Acetylcysteine

J. Kilhamn,^1,2 M. Jertborn,^1,2,* and A.-M. Svennerholm¹

Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology¹ and Department of Infectious Diseases,² Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden

Received 7 July 1997/Returned for modification 6 October 1997/Accepted 15 December 1997

The possibility that a mucolytic drug, i.e., acetylcysteine, given orally may enhance the gut mucosal or systemic immune response to an oral B-subunit-whole-cell (B-WC) cholera vaccine was evaluated for 40 adult Swedish volunteers, and the kinetics of the immune responses were monitored for responding volunteers. Two doses of vaccine induced similar frequencies of immunoglobulin A (IgA) and IgG antitoxin responses (80 to 90%) and vibriocidal titer increases (60 to 65%) in serum irrespective of whether the vaccine was given alone or together with 2 g of acetylcysteine. In feces the frequencies of IgA antitoxin (67%) and antibacterial (33 to 40%) antibody responses were also comparable in the two immunization groups. Six months after vaccination, IgA and IgG antitoxin as well as vibriocidal antibody titer increases in serum could still be detected in approximately 80% of initially responding vaccinees. Significantly elevated fecal antitoxin and antibacterial IgA antibody levels were found in, respectively, 50 and 43% of those volunteers who initially had responded to the vaccine. Determination of IgA antibodies in feces does not seem to offer any advantages compared to determination in serum for assessment of immune responses after immunization with inactivated cholera vaccine.

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^* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Göteborg University, Guldhedsgatan 10, S-413 46 Göteborg, Sweden. Phone: 46 (31) 60 46 81. Fax: 46 (31) 82 69 76.

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Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, March 1998, p. 247-250, Vol. 5, No. 2
1071-412X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

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