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Infection and Immunity, December 2000, p. 7175-7179, Vol. 68, No. 12
Department of Molecular Genetics,
Biochemistry, and Microbiology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati,
Ohio1; Department of Microbiology and
Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston,
Texas2; and Department of Pediatrics,
Division of Infectious Diseases, Vanderbilt University School of
Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee3
Received 3 July 2000/Returned for modification 6 September
2000/Accepted 18 September 2000
Sera from six adults, collected before and after acellular
pertussis vaccination, and from a placebo control were examined for the
ability to elicit two bactericidal immune defenses, (i) antibody-dependent complement-mediated bacterial lysis and (ii) opsonization and phagocytosis by human neutrophils. The samples were
chosen based on low preimmunization titers and strong postimmunization responses to various combinations of vaccine antigens. All but two
prevaccination samples demonstrated activity indicative of complement-mediated lysis. Preimmunization activity could have been due
to prior infection or childhood immunization. Immunization did not
result in improved bactericidal activity for any of the individuals,
and in two cases immunization caused a statistically significant
decrease in complement-mediated lysis. Similarly, opsonization with the
postimmunization sera failed to enhance attachment or phagocytosis of
bacteria by neutrophils, and one postimmunization sample with a strong
response to filamentous hemagglutinin caused an inhibition of
phagocytosis that was statistically significant compared to that
observed for the no-serum control. In summary, booster immunization of
adults with acellular pertussis vaccines was not found to increase
bactericidal activity over preimmunization levels. Identifying ways to
promote bactericidal immune responses might improve the efficacy of
acellular pertussis vaccines.
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Characterization of Bactericidal Immune Responses
following Vaccination with Acellular Pertussis Vaccines in
Adults

*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry, and Microbiology, University of
Cincinnati, 231 Bethesda Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45267-0524. Phone: (513)
558-2820. Fax: (513) 558-8474. E-mail:
alison.weiss{at}uc.edu.
Present address: Department of Microbiology, Cornell University,
Ithaca, New York.
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