O-Specific Polysaccharide-Specific Memory B Cell Responses in Young Children, Older Children, and Adults Infected with Vibrio cholerae O1 Ogawa in Bangladesh

Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2016 May 6;23(5):427-435. doi: 10.1128/CVI.00647-15. Print 2016 May.

Abstract

Cholera caused by Vibrio cholerae O1 confers at least 3 to 10 years of protection against subsequent disease regardless of age, despite a relatively rapid fall in antibody levels in peripheral blood, suggesting that memory B cell responses may play an important role in protection. The V. cholerae O1-specific polysaccharide (OSP) component of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is responsible for serogroup specificity, and it is unclear if young children are capable of developing memory B cell responses against OSP, a T cell-independent antigen, following cholera. To address this, we assessed OSP-specific memory B cell responses in young children (2 to 5 years, n = 11), older children (6 to 17 years, n = 21), and adults (18 to 55 years, n = 28) with cholera caused by V. cholerae O1 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. We also assessed memory B cell responses against LPS and vibriocidal responses, and plasma antibody responses against OSP, LPS, and cholera toxin B subunit (CtxB; a T cell-dependent antigen) on days 2 and 7, as well as days 30, 90, and 180 after convalescence. In all age cohorts, vibriocidal responses and plasma OSP, LPS, and CtxB-specific responses peaked on day 7 and fell toward baseline over the follow-up period. In comparison, we were able to detect OSP memory B cell responses in all age cohorts of patients with detectable responses over baseline for 90 to 180 days. Our results suggest that OSP-specific memory B cell responses can occur following cholera, even in the youngest children, and may explain in part the age-independent induction of long-term immunity following naturally acquired disease.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Antibodies, Bacterial / blood*
  • B-Lymphocytes / immunology*
  • Bangladesh / epidemiology
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Cholera / epidemiology
  • Cholera / immunology*
  • Cholera / microbiology
  • Cholera Toxin / immunology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Immunoglobulin A / blood
  • Immunoglobulin M / blood
  • Immunologic Memory*
  • Lipopolysaccharides / immunology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • O Antigens / immunology*
  • Vibrio cholerae O1 / chemistry
  • Vibrio cholerae O1 / immunology*
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Antibodies, Bacterial
  • Immunoglobulin A
  • Immunoglobulin M
  • Lipopolysaccharides
  • O Antigens
  • Cholera Toxin