Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Aug 2;31(35):3469-72.
doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2013.04.062. Epub 2013 May 10.

Increased IgG but normal IgA anti-pneumococcal protein antibodies in lung of HIV-infected adults

Andrea M Collins  1 , Sherouk El Batrawy, Stephen B Gordon, Daniela M Ferreira
Affiliations

Increased IgG but normal IgA anti-pneumococcal protein antibodies in lung of HIV-infected adults

Andrea M Collins et al. Vaccine. .

Abstract

PspA and pneumolysin (Ply) are important protein vaccine candidates. HIV infection is associated with increased susceptibility to pneumococcal pneumonia and concomitantly high pneumococcal carriage rates. Pneumococcal exposure is immunizing at the mucosa in healthy adults and so we wished to determine if the increased pneumococcal exposure in HIV-infected adults would be associated with altered pneumococcal specific antibody responses. We measured serum and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid immunoglobulin (Ig)G and IgA to PspA and Ply in HIV-infected and healthy age-matched adults. Naturally generated anti-Ply and anti-PspA IgG levels but not IgA were significantly increased in HIV-infected subjects in BAL independent of the hyperglobulinaemia commonly associated with HIV. There was therefore no evidence of a defect in mucosal responses to pneumococcal protein antigens among HIV-infected adults. With regard to future vaccination strategies, simply increasing mucosal anti-pneumococcal protein Ig levels, without addressing functional protective response, is not likely to be effective in preventing pneumococcal pneumonia in HIV-infected individuals.

Keywords: Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL); HIV infection; Pneumococcal colonization; Pneumolysin (Ply); PspA; Streptococcus pneumoniae.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Pneumococcal specific Ig concentrations in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) of HIV-infected and control groups. Each plot represents a subject and bars are the mean of values and 95% confidence intervals. Anti-Ply IgG (a), Anti-Ply IgA (b), Anti-PspA IgG (c) and Anti-PspA IgA (d), levels of HIV-infected and control groups are expressed in ng/ml. *Statistical significance using unpaired Student's t-test (p < 0.05).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Pneumococcal specific Ig concentrations in serum of HIV-infected and control groups. Each plot represents a subject and bars are the mean of values and 95% confidence intervals. Anti-Ply IgG (a), Anti-Ply IgA (b), Anti-PspA IgG (c) and Anti-PspA IgA (d), levels of HIV-infected and control groups are expressed in ng/ml. *Statistical significance using unpaired Student's t-test (p < 0.05).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Nuorti J.P., Butler J.C., Gelling L., Kool J.L., Reingold A.L., Vugia D.J. Epidemiologic relation between HIV and invasive pneumococcal disease in San Francisco County, California. Ann Intern Med. 2000;132(3):182–190. February 1. - PubMed
    1. Janoff E.N., Fasching C., Ojoo J.C., O’Brien J., Gilks C.F. Responsiveness of human immunodeficiency virus type 1-infected Kenyan women with or without prior pneumococcal disease to pneumococcal vaccine. J Infect Dis. 1997;175(April (4)):975–978. - PubMed
    1. French N., Gordon S.B., Mwalukomo T., White S.A., Mwafulirwa G., Longwe H. A trial of a 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in HIV-infected adults. New Engl J Med. 2010;362(9):812–822. March 4. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tai S.S. Streptococcus pneumoniae protein vaccine candidates: properties, activities and animal studies. Crit Rev Microbiol. 2006;32(3):139. - PubMed
    1. Laine C., Mwangi T., Thompson C.M., Obiero J., Lipsitch M., Scott J.A. Age-specific immunoglobulin g (IgG) and IgA to pneumococcal protein antigens in a population in coastal Kenya. Infect Immun. 2004;72(6):3331. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms