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Salivary antibody responses to oral and parenteral vaccines in children
Insights
Salivary IgA antibody responses to poliovirus differ based on oral versus parenteral immunization in young children. Tetanus toxoid antibody levels showed no significant differences across populations studied.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Pediatrics
- Vaccinology
Background:
- Salivary immunoglobulin A (IgA) plays a crucial role in mucosal immunity.
- Understanding early-life immune responses to vaccination is vital for public health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare salivary IgA antibody responses to poliovirus and tetanus toxoid in children from North America and Scandinavia.
- To investigate the impact of different vaccination schedules on mucosal immunity.
Main Methods:
- Salivary IgA antibody levels were measured in 151 children aged 2-48 months using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
- Children from Boston received oral poliovaccine and parenteral tetanus toxoid (TT).
- Children from Sweden received parenteral TT and parenteral killed polio vaccine.
Main Results:
- Oral poliovaccine elicited detectable salivary IgA to poliovirus in 26% of Boston children under 12 months.
- Parenteral killed polio vaccine showed lower salivary IgA response (9%) in Swedish infants.
- Salivary IgA to TT was comparable across all groups by 36 months of age.
- A higher ratio of secretory component to alpha chain was observed in younger children, suggesting potential non-IgA antibody presence.
Conclusions:
- Oral poliovaccine appears more effective in inducing early salivary IgA responses compared to parenteral killed polio vaccine.
- Salivary IgA responses to TT are similar regardless of vaccination schedule in the studied populations.
- Further investigation is needed to understand the nature of early secretory antibody responses in infants.
Abstract:
Salivary IgA antibody to poliovirus and tetanus toxoid was measured in whole salivas of 151 children between 2 and 48 months of age from North America and from Scandinavia. Children from urban and suburban populations in the greater Boston, MA, area receive both oral poliovaccine and a parenteral injection with tetanus toxoid (TT), initially at approximately 2 months of age. Children from Göteborg, Sweden, initially receive parenteral injections of TT at 2 months of age and parenteral injections of killed polio vaccine initially at 9 to 10 months of age. Twenty-six percent of the Boston subjects who were less than 12 months old had detectable salivary IgA antibody to poliovirus after oral immunization. In contrast, within the first year after parenteral immunization with killed poliovirus, the Swedish group had detectable salivary antibody in 9% (1 of 13) of the subjects. Forty to 65% of the children in the older Boston-area age groups had positive salivary IgA antibody levels to this antigen. No differences were seen in salivary IgA antibody to TT among the three populations. By 36 months of age at least 50% of all populations had detectable salivary antibody to TT. The ratio of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) activity using rabbit anti-human secretory component versus rabbit anti-human alpha chain was significantly higher in subjects less than 12 months of age compared with older groups. This suggested either that free secretory component was binding to tetanus toxoid or that secretory antibody of isotypes other than IgA was present in these youngest subjects.