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Infection and Immunity, April 2000, p. 2294-2300, Vol. 68, No. 4
Department of Otolaryngology, Oita Medical
University, Hazama-machi, Oita 879-5593, Japan
Received 12 October 1999/Returned for modification 7 December
1999/Accepted 30 December 1999
Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI) is a major
pathogen of otitis media. One of the outer membrane proteins of NTHI, P6, is an antigen common to all strains and is considered as a candidate for mucosal vaccine. To elucidate the possibility of developing a nasal vaccine against nontypeable Haemophilus
influenzae (NTHI) and to investigate mucosal immune responses in
the middle ear, mice were immunized intranasally with the P6 outer
membrane protein of NTHI, and P6-specific immune responses in the
middle ear mucosa were examined. Mice were given with P6 and cholera toxin intranasally as an adjuvant on days 0, 7, and 14 and were killed
on day 21. The P6-specific immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibody titer in ear
wash was significantly elevated. Mononuclear cells were isolated from
middle ear mucosa, and an increase in P6-specific IgA-producing cells
was shown with an enzyme-linked immunospot assay. In addition, an
increase in memory T cells in middle ear mucosa was detected with flow
cytometric analysis after intranasal immunization. Moreover, in vitro
stimulation with P6 resulted in proliferation of purified
CD4+ T cells from immunized mice, and these T cells
expressed Th2 cytokine mRNA. These results indicate that P6-specific
IgA-B-cell immune responses and selected Th2 cytokine expressing Th
cells were induced in middle ear mucosa by intranasal immunization. These findings suggest that a nasal vaccine is useful for preventing otitis media with effusion.
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Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Induction of Specific Immunoglobulin A and Th2 Immune
Responses to P6 Outer Membrane Protein of Nontypeable Haemophilus
influenzae in Middle Ear Mucosa by Intranasal
Immunization
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Otolaryngology, Oita Medical University, Hazama-machi, Oita 879-5593. Japan. Phone: 81-97-586-5913. Fax: 81-97-549-0762.
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