Frontiers in Immunology (Nov 2019)

Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine Ameliorates Murine Lupus

  • Chiara Cantarelli,
  • Chiara Cantarelli,
  • Chiara Guglielmo,
  • Chiara Guglielmo,
  • Susan Hartzell,
  • Fadi El Salem,
  • Sofia Andrighetto,
  • Victor P. Gazivoda,
  • Enrico Fiaccadori,
  • Gaetano La Manna,
  • Gianluigi Zaza,
  • Jeremy Leventhal,
  • Ioannis Tassiulas,
  • Paolo Cravedi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2019.02695
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10

Abstract

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Current guidelines encourage administering pneumococcal vaccine Prevnar-13 to patients with lupus, but whether such vaccinations affect disease severity is unclear. To address this issue, we treated 3-month-old MRL-lpr mice, that spontaneously develop a lupus-like syndrome, with Prevnar-13 or vehicle control. After 3 months, we quantified circulating anti-Pneumococcal polysaccharide capsule (PPS) antibodies and signs of disease severity, including albuminuria, renal histology and skin severity score. We also compared immunophenotypes and function of T and B cells from treated and untreated animals. Prevnar-13 elicited the formation of anti-pneumococcal IgM and IgG. Prevnar-13 treated animals showed reduced albuminuria, renal histological lesions, and milder dermatitis compared to vehicle-treated controls. Mitigated disease severity was associated with reduced and increased T follicular helper cells (TFH) and T follicular regulatory cells (TFR), respectively, in Prevnar-treated animals. T cells from Prevnar-13 vaccinated mice showed differential cytokine production after aCD3/aCD28 stimulation, with significantly decreased IL-17 and IL-4, and increased IL-10 production compared to non-vaccinated mice. In conclusion, pneumococcal vaccination elicits anti-pneumococcal antibody response and ameliorates disease severity in MRL-lpr mice, which associates with fewer TFH and increased TFR. Together, the data support use of Prevnar vaccination in individuals with SLE.

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