title: Antigen-specific memory B-cell responses to Vibrio cholerae O1 infection in Bangladesh.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Centre for Health and Population Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Aaron M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: M Saruar
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Bhuiyan
authors.forename: Fahima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chowdhury
authors.forename: Ashraful I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Azim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hossain
authors.forename: Emily A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Kendall
authors.forename: Atiqur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.forename: Regina C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: LaRocque
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wrammert
authors.forename: Edward T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.forename: Firdausi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Qadri
authors.forename: Stephen B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Calderwood
authors.forename: Jason B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Harris
mesh_terms: 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*
chemical_list: 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