title: Antibody responses to preS components after immunization of children with low doses of BioHepB.
abstract: BioHepB is a recombinant, hepatitis B vaccine derived from a mammalian cell line and containing HBs as well as preS1 and preS2 antigens, in their glycosylated and non-glycosylated forms. The vaccine was administered intramuscularly to 18 children aged 5 months to 11 years at 0, 1 and 6 months. One hundred percent seroconversion and seroprotection rates were achieved after primary and secondary immunization with the 2.5 microg doses of BioHepB. Ten out of the 18 children (56%) responded with the appearance of anti-preS1 and/or anti-preS2 antibodies in circulation, when analyzed 1, 2, 6, 7 and 12 months after the initiation of vaccination. In comparison with the emergence of the anti-HBs response, early (month 2, after two injections) or late (month 7, after three injections) peak responses were noted for the kinetics of anti-preS1 and anti-preS2 production during the course of immunization, demonstrating that the anti-preS1 and anti-preS2 responses are differently regulated, compared with the anti-HBs response. At month 6, just prior to the final injection, BioHepB caused significantly higher anti-HBs responses (GMT) in preS1-reactive children than in children without preS1 antibodies (P<0.005). Moreover, a significantly higher, anti-HBs response in GMT was also noted for anti-preS2-reactive children compared with anti-preS2-negative children (P<0.05). These findings demonstrated that recognition of the preS epitopes contained in the experimental preS1/preS2/S vaccine is accompanied by a more rapid onset and pronounced antibody response to the S-gene-derived protein in healthy children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Child Health Memorial Institute, Al. Dzieci Polskich 20, 04-736, Warsaw, Poland. kmadalinski@wp.pl
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Madalinski
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Sylvan
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Hellström
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mikolajewicz
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zembrzuska-Sadkowska
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Piontek
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D016466:CHO Cells / Q000821:virology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006224:Cricetinae; D003412:Cricetulus; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000517:prevention & control; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000276:immunology; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000276:immunology*; D014611:Vaccination; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000276:immunology; D014776:Virus Cultivation
chemical_list: D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines; D011498:Protein Precursors; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic; C050806:presurface protein 1, hepatitis B surface antigen; C050807:presurface protein 2, hepatitis B surface antigen