Induction of a specific antibody response to Bordetella pertussis antigensin cultures of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells

The role of specific antibodies in protective immunity to Bordetella pertus sis has not yet been clearly defined. In the present work, the induction of a specific antibody response to B. pertussis in cultures of human peripher al blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was investigated, on the assumption that the capacity of circulating lymphocytes to mount a specific response in vit ro may provide a useful parameter for the evaluation of protective immunity . When PBMC from normal adult donors were cultured with a heat-inactivated B. pertussis whole-cell suspension, cells secreting antibodies to pertussis toxin, pertactin and filamentous haemagglutinin were generated consistentl y. The antibody response peaked between days 7 and 11 of culture and the an tibodies produced were exclusively of the IgM class.