The influence of neonatal BCG vaccination on in vitro cytokine responses to Plasmodium falciparum

• Published in: BMC immunology 2024-04, Vol.25 (1), p.24-24, Article 24
• Main Authors: Messina, N L, Wang, M, Forbes, E K, Freyne, B, Hasang, W P, Germano, S, Bonnici, R, Summons, F, Gardiner, K, Donath, S, Gordon, R, Rogerson, S J, Curtis, N
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Analysis; Antimalarials; Antitubercular agents; Babies; Bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccine; BCG; BCG Vaccine - immunology; BCG vaccines; Blood; Care and treatment; Chemokines; Clinical outcomes; Clinical trials; Cytokine; Cytokines; Cytokines - metabolism; Disease susceptibility; Dosage and administration; E coli; Erythrocytes; Erythrocytes - immunology; Erythrocytes - parasitology; Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli - immunology; Female; Hepatitis; Humans; Immunity; Immunization; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Infants (Newborn); Infection; Infections; Influence; Interferon; Malaria; Malaria, Falciparum - immunology; Malaria, Falciparum - prevention & control; Male; Medical colleges; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Mortality; Neonatal care; Neonate; Neonates; Pathogenesis; Pathogens; Plasmodium falciparum; Plasmodium falciparum - immunology; Prevention; Proteins; Regression analysis; Risk factors; Statistical analysis; Tuberculosis; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Tumor necrosis factor-α; Vaccination; Vaccines; γ-Interferon
• ISSN: 1471-2172; 1471-2172
• DOI: 10.1186/s12865-024-00611-5

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination has off-target protective effects against infections unrelated to tuberculosis. Among these, murine and human studies suggest that BCG vaccination may protect against malaria. We investigated whether BCG vaccination influences neonatal in vitro cytokine responses to Plasmodium falciparum. Blood samples were collected from 108 participants in the Melbourne Infant Study BCG for Allergy and Infection Reduction (MIS BAIR) randomised controlled trial (Clinical trials registration NCT01906853, registered July 2013), seven days after randomisation to neonatal BCG (n = 66) or no BCG vaccination (BCG-naïve, n = 42). In vitro cytokine responses were measured following stimulation with P. falciparum-infected erythrocytes (PfIE) or E. coli. No difference in the measured cytokines were observed between BCG-vaccinated and BCG-naïve neonates following stimulation with PfIE or E. coli. However, age at which blood was sampled was independently associated with altered cytokine responses to PfIE. Being male was also independently associated with increased TNF-a responses to both PfIE and E. coli. These findings do not support a role for BCG vaccination in influencing in vitro neonatal cytokine responses to P. falciparum. Older neonates are more likely to develop P. falciparum-induced IFN-γ and IFN-γ-inducible chemokine responses implicated in early protection against malaria and malaria pathogenesis.