title: Different Dynamics for IgG and IgA Memory B Cells in Adolescents following a Meningococcal Serogroup C Tetanus Toxoid Conjugate Booster Vaccination Nine Years after Priming: A Role for Priming Age?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Antibody levels wane rapidly after Meningococcal serogroup C conjugate (MenCC) vaccination in young children, rendering the need for an adolescent booster dose. It is not clear whether circulating memory B cells are associated with persistence of MenC-specific antibody levels.
  
  
  METHODS
  Measurement of MenC-specific IgG and IgA memory B cells and levels of serum and salivary MenC-specific IgG and IgA in healthy 10-, 12- and 15-year-olds prior to and one month and one year after a MenCC booster vaccination. All participants had received a primary MenCC vaccination nine years earlier.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The number of circulating MenC-specific IgG memory B cells prior to booster was low and not predictive for MenC-specific IgG responses in serum or saliva post-booster, whereas the number of MenC-specific IgA memory B cells pre-booster positively correlated with MenC-specific IgA levels in saliva post-booster (R = 0.5, P<0.05). The booster induced a clear increase in the number of MenC-specific IgG and IgA memory B cells. The number of MenC-PS-specific IgG memory B cells at 1 month post-booster was highest in the 12-year-olds. The number of MenC-specific memory B cells at one month post-booster showed no correlation with the rate of MenC-specific antibody decay throughout the first year post-booster.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Circulating MenC-specific IgA memory B cells correlate with IgA responses in saliva, whereas circulating MenC-specific IgG memory B cells are not predictive for MenC-specific IgG responses in serum or saliva. Our results are suggestive for age-dependent differences in pre-existing memory against MenC.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands; Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Susanne P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Stoof
authors.affiliation: Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anne-Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Buisman
authors.affiliation: Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Debbie M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: van Rooijen
authors.affiliation: Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rianne
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Boonacker
authors.affiliation: Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Fiona R M
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: van der Klis
authors.affiliation: Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands; Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Elisabeth A M
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Sanders
authors.affiliation: Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Guy A M
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Berbers
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology*; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D007117:Immunization, Secondary; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D022401:Meningococcal Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D038542:Neisseria meningitidis, Serogroup C / Q000276:immunology*; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D022401:Meningococcal Vaccines; C410218:serogroup C meningococcal conjugate vaccine