title: Maternal intranasal immunization with outer membrane protein P6 maintains specific antibody level of derived offspring.
abstract: Acute otitis media is one of the most common infectious diseases in children younger than 2 years of age. Immunological studies in young children have revealed that immature antibody-responses to major pathogens, such as S. pneumoniae, H.influenzae, would cause the vulnerability to upper respiratory tract infections. Thus, it is very important to induce effective protective immunity among children younger than 2 years of age. In this study, we evaluated the capacity of maternal immunization with P6 of H. influenzae to evoke specific antibody to P6 and to transfer it to offspring. We intranasally immunized mother mice with P6 and investigated the induction of specific antibody in sera and breast milk. The specific antibody among offspring delivered by immunized mother was also investigated according to the nursing status to evaluate the importance of breast feedings by immunized mothers. Anti-P6 specific IgG in sera were high at delivery and maintained during nursing periods among P6-immunized mother mice. Anti-P6 specific IgG were predominantly induced in breast milk. IgG subclass induced in sera and breast milk from P6-immunized mother mice were IgG2b, followed by IgG1 and IgG2a subclass. Offspring delivered by P6-immunized mothers had anti-P6 specific IgG in sera at the birth. The levels of anti-P6 specific IgG in sera from offspring breast-fed by P6-immunized mothers were then increased until day 14 and then decreased on day 21. The anti-P6 specific IgG in sera from offspring breast-fed by sham-immunized mothers were rapidly decreased after birth. The current findings strongly suggest that maternal intranasal immunization with P6 would be an attractive strategy against NTHi infections during early childhood. It can supply protective antibodies via transplacental transfer during pregnancy and via breast milk after birth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Wakayama Medical University, 811-1, Kimiidera, Wakayama-shi, Wakayama 641-8509, Japan. kazuma@wakayama-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Kazuma
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamauchi
authors.forename: Muneki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hotomi
authors.forename: Dewan S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Billal
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suzumoto
authors.forename: Noboru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamanaka
mesh_terms: D000281:Administration, Intranasal; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood*; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology; D003126:Colostrum / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006192:Haemophilus Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control; D018073:Haemophilus Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology; D006193:Haemophilus influenzae / Q000276:immunology*; D007112:Immunity, Maternally-Acquired; D007114:Immunization; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D018073:Haemophilus Vaccines; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; C069990:P6 outer membrane protein, Haemophilus