Immune responses against group B Streptococcus monovalent and pentavalent capsular polysaccharide tetanus toxoid conjugate vaccines in Balb/c mice
Nisha Dhar,
Ebrahim Mohamed,
Frank Kirstein,
Matthew Williams,
Shantal Dorasamy,
Petrus van Zyl,
Madelyn Johnstone Robertson,
Taigh Anderson,
Lois M. Harden,
Kimberly Jardine,
Balaji Veeraraghavan,
Seanette Wilson,
Patrick Tippoo,
Shabir A. Madhi,
Gaurav Kwatra
Affiliations
Nisha Dhar
South African Medical Research Council Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Corresponding author
Ebrahim Mohamed
The Biovac Institute, Cape Town, South Africa
Frank Kirstein
The Biovac Institute, Cape Town, South Africa
Matthew Williams
The Biovac Institute, Cape Town, South Africa
Shantal Dorasamy
The Biovac Institute, Cape Town, South Africa
Petrus van Zyl
The Biovac Institute, Cape Town, South Africa
Madelyn Johnstone Robertson
The Biovac Institute, Cape Town, South Africa
Taigh Anderson
The Biovac Institute, Cape Town, South Africa
Lois M. Harden
Brain Function Research Group, School of Physiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Kimberly Jardine
Wits Research Animal Facility, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Balaji Veeraraghavan
Department of Clinical Microbiology, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India
Seanette Wilson
The Biovac Institute, Cape Town, South Africa
Patrick Tippoo
The Biovac Institute, Cape Town, South Africa
Shabir A. Madhi
South African Medical Research Council Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; African Leadership in Vaccinology Expertise, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Gaurav Kwatra
South African Medical Research Council Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Department of Clinical Microbiology, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India; African Leadership in Vaccinology Expertise, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Corresponding author
Summary: Immunization of pregnant women with Group B Streptococcus (GBS) capsular polysaccharide (CPS) conjugate vaccine (CV) could protect young infants against invasive GBS disease. We evaluated the immunogenicity of investigational five GBS monovalent (serotypes Ia, Ib, II, III, and V) CPS-tetanus toxoid (TT)-CV with adjuvant and GBS pentavalent CPS-TT-CV with adjuvant (GBS5-CV-adj) and without adjuvant (GBS5-CV-no-adj), in Balb/c mice. Aluminum phosphate was the adjuvant in the formulations, where included. The homotypic immunoglobulin G (IgG) geometric mean concentration (GMC) and opsonophagocytic activity (OPA) geometric mean titer (GMT) did not differ after the third dose of the GBS5-CV-adj vaccine compared with the monovalent counterparts for all five serotypes. The GBS5-CV-adj induced higher post-vaccination serotype-specific IgG GMCs and OPA GMTs compared to GBS5-CV-no_adj. The GBS5-CV with and without adjuvant should be considered for further development as a potential vaccine for pregnant women to protect their infants against invasive GBS disease.
