title: Impaired Antigen-Specific Immune Response to Vaccines in Children with Antibody Production Defects.
abstract: The impaired synthesis of antigen-specific antibodies, which is indispensable for an adaptive immune response to infections, is a fundamental pathomechanism that leads to clinical manifestations in children with antibody production defects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the synthesis of antigen-specific antibodies following immunization in relation to peripheral blood B cell subsets in young children with hypogammaglobulinemia. Twenty-two children, aged from 8 to 61 months, with a deficiency in one or more major immunoglobulin classes participated in the study. Postvaccination antibodies against tetanus and diphtheria toxoids, the surface antigen of the hepatitis B virus, and the capsular Haemophilus influenzae type b polysaccharide antigen were assessed along with an immunophenotypic evaluation of peripheral blood B lymph cell maturation. A deficiency of antibodies against the tetanus toxoid was assessed in 73% of cases and that against the diphtheria toxoid was assessed in 68% of cases, whereas a deficiency of antibodies against the surface antigen of the hepatitis B virus was revealed in 59% of the children included in the study. A defective response to immunization with a conjugate vaccine with the Haemophilus influenzae type b polysaccharide antigen was demonstrated in 55% of hypogammaglobulinemic patients. Increased proportions of transitional B lymph cells and an accumulation of plasmablasts accompanied antibody deficiencies. The defective response to vaccine protein and polysaccharide antigens is a predominating disorder of humoral immunity in children with hypogammaglobulinemia and may result from a dysfunctional state of the cellular elements of the immune system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Pneumonology, Allergology and Clinical Immunology, III Chair of Pediatrics, Poznan University of Medical Science, Poznan, Poland ola@malwa.com.pl.
authors.forename: Aleksandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Szczawinska-Poplonyk
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Pneumonology, Allergology and Clinical Immunology, III Chair of Pediatrics, Poznan University of Medical Science, Poznan, Poland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Breborowicz
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Chair of Clinical Immunology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland.
authors.forename: Husam
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Samara
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Pneumonology, Allergology and Clinical Immunology, III Chair of Pediatrics, Poznan University of Medical Science, Poznan, Poland.
authors.forename: Lidia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ossowska
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Chair of Clinical Immunology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland.
authors.forename: Grzegorz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dworacki
mesh_terms: D000361:Agammaglobulinemia; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines