Antigen-specific memory B-cell responses to Vibrio cholerae O1 infection in Bangladesh.
Cholera, caused by Vibrio cholerae, is a noninvasive dehydrating enteric disease with a high mortality rate if untreated. Infection with V. cholerae elicits long-term protection against subsequent disease in countries where the disease is endemic. Although the mechanism of this protective immunity is unknown, it has been hypothesized that a protective mucosal response to V. cholerae infection may be mediated by anamnestic responses of memory B cells in the gut-associated lymphoid tissue. To characterize memory B-cell responses to cholera, we enrolled a cohort of 39 hospitalized patients with culture-confirmed cholera and evaluated their immunologic responses at frequent intervals over the subsequent 1 year. Memory B cells to cholera antigens, including lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and the protein antigens cholera toxin B subunit (CTB) and toxin-coregulated pilus major subunit A (TcpA) were enumerated using a method of polyclonal stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells followed by a standard enzyme-linked immunospot procedure. All patients demonstrated CTB, TcpA, and LPS-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG)and IgA memory responses by day 90. In addition, these memory B-cell responses persisted up to 1 year, substantially longer than other traditional immunologic markers of infection with V. cholerae. While the magnitude of the LPS-specific IgG memory B-cell response waned at 1 year, CTB- and TcpA-specific IgG memory B cells remained significantly elevated at 1 year after infection, suggesting that T-cell help may result in a more durable memory B-cell response to V. cholerae protein antigens. Such memory B cells could mediate anamnestic responses on reexposure to V. cholerae.
Harris
Aaron M
AM
International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Centre for Health and Population Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Bhuiyan
M Saruar
MS
Chowdhury
Fahima
F
Khan
Ashraful I
AI
Hossain
Azim
A
Kendall
Emily A
EA
Rahman
Atiqur
A
LaRocque
Regina C
RC
Wrammert
Jens
J
Ryan
Edward T
ET
Qadri
Firdausi
F
Calderwood
Stephen B
SB
Harris
Jason B
JB
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D001770:Blood Bactericidal Activity; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002771:Cholera / Q000276:immunology*; D002772:Cholera Toxin / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000097:blood; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D041241:Vibrio cholerae O1 / Q000276:immunology*
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; C085807:TcpA protein, Vibrio cholerae; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins; D002772:Cholera Toxin