Modification of innate immune responses to Bordetella pertussis in babies from pertussis vaccinated pregnancies
Thomas F. Rice,
Dimitri A. Diavatopoulos,
Yanping Guo,
Beverly Donaldson,
Marielle Bouqueau,
Anna Bosanquet,
Sara Barnett,
Beth Holder,
Beate Kampmann
Affiliations
Thomas F. Rice
Department of Metabolism, Development and Reproduction (MDR), Lecturer in Maternal and Fetal Health, Imperial College London, Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology (IRDB), Hammersmith Campus, London W12 0HS, UK; Section of Paediatrics, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, UK
Dimitri A. Diavatopoulos
Section Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
Yanping Guo
National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI), Imperial College London, UK
Beverly Donaldson
Section of Paediatrics, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, UK
Marielle Bouqueau
Section of Paediatrics, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, UK
Anna Bosanquet
Section of Paediatrics, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, UK
Sara Barnett
Department of Metabolism, Development and Reproduction (MDR), Lecturer in Maternal and Fetal Health, Imperial College London, Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology (IRDB), Hammersmith Campus, London W12 0HS, UK
Beth Holder
Department of Metabolism, Development and Reproduction (MDR), Lecturer in Maternal and Fetal Health, Imperial College London, Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology (IRDB), Hammersmith Campus, London W12 0HS, UK; Section of Paediatrics, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, UK; Corresponding author at: Department of Metabolism, Development and Reproduction (MDR), Imperial College London, Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology (IRDB), Hammersmith Campus, London W12 0HS, UK.
Beate Kampmann
Section of Paediatrics, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, UK; The Vaccine Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK; Vaccines and Immunity Theme, MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM, Gambia
Background: Tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis, inactivated polio (Tdap-IPV) vaccines administered during pregnancy protect young infants from Bordetella pertussis (B. pertussis) infection. Whilst the impact of maternal Tdap-IPV vaccination on infants’ humoral response to subsequent pertussis immunisation has been investigated, little is known about any impact on innate responses. Methods: We investigated the immune response to B. pertussis in mothers and infants from Tdap-IPV-vaccinated and unvaccinated pregnancies, utilising a whole blood assay and flow cytometric phenotyping of neonatal natural killer (NK) cells, monocytes and dendritic cells. Blood was collected from mother and umbilical cord at birth, and from infants at seven weeks (one week pre-primary pertussis immunisation) and five months of age (one month post-primary pertussis immunisation). 21 mothers and 67 infants were studied. Findings: Vaccinated women had elevated pro-inflammatory cytokine responses to B. pertussis. At birth, babies of vaccinated women had elevated IL-2 and IL-12 responses, elevated classical monocyte proportions, and reduced monocyte and NK cell cytokine responses. The elevated IL-2 response persisted to seven weeks-of-age, when lower IL-10 and IL-13 responses were also seen. One-month post-primary pertussis vaccination, infants from vaccinated pregnancies still had lower IL-10 responses to B. pertussis, as well as lower IL-4. Interpretation: This study suggests that pertussis vaccination during pregnancy impacts infant cellular immune responses, potentially contributing to the modification of antibody responses already reported following primary immunisation against B. pertussis. Funding: National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre and IMmunising PRegnant women and INfants neTwork (funded by the GCRF Networks in Vaccines R&D).
