Antigen-specific memory B-cell responses to Vibrio cholerae O1 infection in Bangladesh

Infect Immun. 2009 Sep;77(9):3850-6. doi: 10.1128/IAI.00369-09. Epub 2009 Jun 15.

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.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Antibodies, Bacterial / blood
  • Antigens, Bacterial / immunology*
  • B-Lymphocytes / immunology*
  • Blood Bactericidal Activity
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Cholera / immunology*
  • Cholera Toxin / immunology
  • Female
  • Fimbriae Proteins / immunology
  • Humans
  • Immunoglobulin A / blood
  • Immunoglobulin G / blood
  • Immunologic Memory*
  • Lipopolysaccharides / immunology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Vibrio cholerae O1 / immunology*

Substances

  • Antibodies, Bacterial
  • Antigens, Bacterial
  • Immunoglobulin A
  • Immunoglobulin G
  • Lipopolysaccharides
  • TcpA protein, Vibrio cholerae
  • Fimbriae Proteins
  • Cholera Toxin