Microarray-Based Analyses of Rhinovirus Species-Specific Antibody Responses in Exacerbated Pediatric Asthma in a German Pediatric Cohort
Erwan Sallard,
Katarzyna Niespodziana,
Maja Bajic,
Thomas Schlederer,
Peter Errhalt,
Ann-Kathrin Behrendt,
Stefan Wirth,
Almut Meyer-Bahlburg,
Anja Ehrhardt,
Rudolf Valenta,
Malik Aydin
Affiliations
Erwan Sallard
Institute of Virology and Microbiology, Center for Biomedical Education and Research (ZBAF), Department of Human Medicine, Faculty of Health, Witten/Herdecke University, 58453 Witten, Germany
Katarzyna Niespodziana
Division of Immunopathology, Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
Maja Bajic
Department of Pneumology, University Hospital Krems and Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences, 3500 Krems, Austria
Thomas Schlederer
Division of Immunopathology, Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
Peter Errhalt
Department of Pneumology, University Hospital Krems and Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences, 3500 Krems, Austria
Ann-Kathrin Behrendt
Pediatric Rheumatology and Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, University Medicine Greifswald, 17475 Greifswald, Germany
Stefan Wirth
Center for Child and Adolescent Medicine, Center for Clinical and Translational Research (CCTR), Helios University Hospital Wuppertal, Witten/Herdecke University, 42283 Wuppertal, Germany
Almut Meyer-Bahlburg
Pediatric Rheumatology and Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, University Medicine Greifswald, 17475 Greifswald, Germany
Anja Ehrhardt
Institute of Virology and Microbiology, Center for Biomedical Education and Research (ZBAF), Department of Human Medicine, Faculty of Health, Witten/Herdecke University, 58453 Witten, Germany
Rudolf Valenta
Division of Immunopathology, Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
Malik Aydin
Center for Child and Adolescent Medicine, Center for Clinical and Translational Research (CCTR), Helios University Hospital Wuppertal, Witten/Herdecke University, 42283 Wuppertal, Germany
Rhinoviruses (RV) account for a significant number of asthma exacerbations, and RV species C may be associated with a severe course in vulnerable patient groups. Despite important evidence on the role of RV reported by clinicians and life scientists, there are still unanswered questions regarding their influence on asthma exacerbation in young patients. Thus, we measured the RVspecies-specific IgG titers in our German pediatric exacerbation cohort using a microarray-based technology. For this approach, human sera of patients with exacerbated asthma and wheeze, as well as healthy control subjects (n = 136) were included, and correlation analyses were performed. Concordantly with previously published results, we observed significantly higher cumulative levels of RV species A-specific IgG (p = 0.011) and RV-C-specific IgG (p = 0.051) in exacerbated asthma group compared to age-matched controls. Moreover, atopic wheezers had increased RV-specific IgG levels for species A (p = 0.0011) and species C (p = 0.0009) compared to non-atopic wheezers. Hypothesizing that bacterial infection positively correlates with immune memory against RV, we included nasopharyngeal swab results in our analyses and detected limited correlations. Interestingly, the eosinophil blood titer positively correlated with RV-specific IgG levels. With these observations, we add important observations to the existing data regarding exacerbation in pediatric and adolescent medicine. We propose that scientists and clinicians should pay more attention to the relevance of RV species in susceptible pediatric patients.
