Randomized trial of the quantitative and functional antibody responses to a 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and/or 23-valent polysaccharide vaccine among HIV-infected adults

In a double-blinded, randomized trial, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-i nfected adults with greater than or equal to 200 CD4 cells/mul received pla cebo (PL), 7-valent conjugate. or 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide (PS ) vaccine in one of the following two-dose combinations given 8 weeks apart : conjugate-conjugate, conjugate-polysaccharide. placebo-polysaccharide, pl acebo-placebo. A total of 67 persons completed the study. Neither significa nt increases in HIV viral load nor severe adverse reactions occurred in any group. After controlling for confounders. when compared with persons recei ving placebo-polysaccharide, persons receiving conjugate-conjugate and conj ugate-polysaccharide had higher antibody concentrations (serotypes 4. 6B, 9 V and serotype 23F respectively) and opsonophagocytic titers (functional an tibody assay, serotypes 9V, 23F and serotypes 4, 6B, 9V. respectively) afte r the second dose (P < 0.05). The second dose with either conjugate or poly saccharide following the first conjugate dose, however, produced no further increase in immune responses. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.