Rotavirus vaccination and infection induce VP6-specific IgA responses

Rotavirus (RV) is the leading cause of severe gastroenteritis (GE) in young children, but RVGE has drastically been reduced with the introduction of live oral RV vaccines into childhood immunization program in many countries. Serum IgA antibody is a marker of clinical protection against severe RVGE after RV infection and vaccination. This study investigated VP6-specificity of anti-RV IgA antibody levels in Finnish children aged 6-23 months before and after introduction of RotaTeq® into national immunization program. Although RV inner capsid protein VP6 is considered as antigenic target in clinical and seroepidemiological studies, at present VP6 protein is not commonly employed as a primary ELISA-antigen. Thus, sera from 20 unvaccinated and 19 vaccinated children were examined in ELISA with recombinant VP6 (rVP6) protein, and the VP6-specific responses were compared to responses observed with human RV Wa and bovine RV WC3 cell culture antigens. Moreover, fecal antibodies were tested with rVP6 and Wa cell culture antigen. Equal levels of serum anti-RV IgA antibodies were detected by the three antigens. Fecal IgA titers against rVP6 and Wa antigen showed a correlation with the corresponding serum levels. The results suggest that the IgA response measured by virus-capture ELISA is mainly directed to VP6 protein, supporting the usage of rVP6 in detection of anti-RV IgA antibodies. Natural RV infections and vaccinations induced similar levels of serum VP6-specific IgA antibodies. Serum IgA antibodies after RotaTeq® vaccination showed sustained levels up to two years of age in line with long term protection. J. Med. Virol. 89:239-245, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.