ANTIBODY-SECRETING CELLS AND THEIR RELATION TO HUMORAL ANTIBODIES IN SERUM AND IN NASOPHARYNGEAL ASPIRATES IN CHILDREN WITH PNEUMOCOCCAL ACUTE OTITIS-MEDIA
T. Nieminen et al., ANTIBODY-SECRETING CELLS AND THEIR RELATION TO HUMORAL ANTIBODIES IN SERUM AND IN NASOPHARYNGEAL ASPIRATES IN CHILDREN WITH PNEUMOCOCCAL ACUTE OTITIS-MEDIA, The Journal of infectious diseases, 173(1), 1996, pp. 136-141
Mucosal and systemic antibody responses to pneumococcal capsular polys
accharide were studied in 17 children with culture-verified pneumococc
al acute otitis media. Serotype-specific antibody-secreting cells (ASC
s) in peripheral blood and antibodies in acute and convalescent sera a
nd nasopharyngeal aspirates were measured, A polysaccharide-specific A
SC response was induced in all subjects. The response was age dependen
t, and the dominant antibody class was IgA. Three children >24 months
old had >100 IgA-class ASCs/10(6) cells and serum and nasopharyngeal I
gA responses; 2 had only a nasopharyngeal IgA response. None of 8 chil
dren <24 months old showed a systemic response; however, a nasopharyng
eal IgA response was detected in 1. Results suggest that whole pneumoc
occi can induce a mucosal polysaccharide-specific antibody response in
dependent of the systemic response. Results are also in accordance wit
h earlier studies suggesting that the mucosal immune system matures ea
rlier in life than does the systemic immune response.