title: Leukocyte transcript alterations in West-African girls following a booster vaccination with diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Observational studies from low-income countries have shown that the vaccination against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP) is associated with excess female mortality due to infectious diseases.
  
  
  METHODS
  To investigate possible changes in gene expression after DTP vaccination, we identified a group of nine comparable West African girls, from a biobank of 356 children, who were due to receive DTP booster vaccine at age 18 months. As a pilot experiment we extracted RNA from blood samples before, and 6 weeks after, vaccination to analyze the coding transcriptome in leukocytes using expression microarrays, and ended up with information from eight girls. The data was further analyzed using dedicated array pathway and network software. We aimed to study whether DTP vaccination introduced a systematic alteration in the immune system in girls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found very few transcripts to alter systematically. Those that did mainly belonged to the Interferon (IFN) signalling pathway. We scrutinized this pathway as well as the Interleukin (IL) pathways. Two out of eight showed a down-regulated IFN pathway and two showed an up-regulated IFN pathway. The two with down-regulated IFN pathway had also down-regulated IL-6 pathway. In the study of networks, two of the girls stood out as not having the inflammatory response as top altered network.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The transcriptome changes following DTP booster vaccination were subtle, but although the material was small, it was possible to identify sub groups that deviate from each other, mainly in the IFN response.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Medicine V (Hepatology and Gastroenterology), Aarhus University Hospital , Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Nikolaj W
authors.initials: NW
authors.lastname: Ørntoft
authors.affiliation: b Department of Molecular Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital , Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kasper
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Thorsen
authors.affiliation: c Research Center for Vitamins and Vaccines (CVIVA), Bandim Health Project, Statens Serum Institut , Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Christine S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Benn
authors.affiliation: d Bandim Health Project , Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, West Africa.
authors.forename: Grethe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lemvik
authors.affiliation: d Bandim Health Project , Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, West Africa.
authors.forename: Joao R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Nanque
authors.affiliation: c Research Center for Vitamins and Vaccines (CVIVA), Bandim Health Project, Statens Serum Institut , Copenhagen, Denmark.|d Bandim Health Project , Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, West Africa.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Aaby
authors.affiliation: e Department of Infectious Diseases, Aarhus University Hospital , Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Østergaard
authors.affiliation: e Department of Infectious Diseases, Aarhus University Hospital , Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Agergaard
mesh_terms: D000354:Africa, Western; D015721:Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis Vaccine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007117:Immunization, Secondary / Q000009:adverse effects*; D007223:Infant; D007372:Interferons / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D059467:Transcriptome
chemical_list: D015721:Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis Vaccine; D007372:Interferons
keywords: Immunology; gene expression; microarrays; mortality; pediatrics; vaccine