Lymphocyte response to tetanus toxin T-cell epitopes: effects of tetanus vaccination and concurrent malaria prophylaxis

• Published in: Vaccine 1999, Vol.17 (1), p.59-63
• Main Authors: Fryauff, David J, Mouzin, Eric, Preston Church, L.W, Ratiwayanto, Sutanti, Hadiputranto, Hilda, Sutamihardja, Mochammad A, Widjaja, Hendra, Corradin, G, Subianto, Budi, Hoffman, Stephen L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Amino Acid Sequence; Antibiotics. Antiinfectious agents. Antiparasitic agents; Antimalarials - therapeutic use; Antiparasitic agents; Bacteriology; Biological and medical sciences; Chloroquine - therapeutic use; Epitopes; Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte - immunology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Lymphocyte; Lymphocyte Activation - immunology; Malaria - immunology; Malaria - prevention & control; Male; Medical sciences; Microbiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Placebos; Primaquine - therapeutic use; Response; T-cell; T-Lymphocytes - immunology; Tetanus; Tetanus Toxin - immunology; Tetanus Toxin - pharmacology; Tetanus Toxoid - immunology; Tetanus Toxoid - pharmacology; Toxin; Vaccines, antisera, therapeutical immunoglobulins and monoclonal antibodies
• ISSN: 0264-410X; 1873-2518
• DOI: 10.1016/S0264-410X(98)00144-3

Synthesized T-cell epitopes of tetanus toxin are universally immunogenic and serve to enhance immune response when they are used as vaccine carriers of B-cell epitopes. The immunogenicity of the P2, P30, and P2P30 T-cell epitopes of tetanus toxin and whole tetanus toxoid (TT) was evaluated by in vitro proliferation assay of lymphocytes from men with no history of tetanus vaccination who were enrolled in a malaria prophylaxis trial. The enhancement of immune response by tetanus vaccination (Td) and possible antagonism by the antimalarial drugs, was measured by pre- and post-Td comparisons within and between immunized prophylaxis groups (primaquine, chloroquine, placebo) and a nonimmunized control group. Constructs demonstrated low immunogenicity relative to TT in all groups. Relative to both control and its own baseline, the immunized primaquine prophylaxis group was distinct in demonstrating significantly increased proliferation against all three subunits and at both high (30 μg ml −1) and low (3 μg ml −1) concentrations. Immunization elicited significantly increased proliferation responses by placebo and chloroquine prophylaxis groups against only the P2P30 construct. Despite these significant post-Td changes, a low concentration of TT (0.1 μg ml −1) stimulated proliferation 7–10 times over that induced by the greatest concentration of the constructs.