Antibodies Given Orally in the Neonatal Period Can Affect the Immune Response for Two Generations: Evidence for Active Maternal Influence on the Newborn's Immune System

Abstract

Two day old Wistar rats were tube fed with 1 or 10 micrograms of a mouse IgG1 monoclonal anti-idiotypic (a-Id) antibody that was directed against an anti-Escherichia coli-K13 capsular polysaccharide antibody. A control group was given 10 micrograms of an unrelated control antibody. Six weeks after the administration of antibodies, the rats were intestinally colonised with an ovalbumin (OVA)-producing E. coli O6K13 strain. At 8 weeks of age, the male rats (first generation) and the offsprings of the female rats (second generation), were parenterally immunised with OVA and dead wild type E. coli O6K13, and the immune response was followed. In the rats of the first generation, there were no major differences between the groups in the immune response to the bacterium. However, the offspring of the neonatally a-Id administered rats had a profoundly affected immune response to the idiotypically connected antigen K13, but also to other antigens on the bacteria. Thus, a-Id treatment in the first generation gave, in the second generation, a greatly enhanced serum antibody response to the spatially related antigens OVA and O6 LPS, as well as to the idiotypically connected antigen K13. Concurrently, the in vitro spleen cell proliferative response to both OVA and the wild type bacterium was lowered. Overall, greater effects were seen with the higher dose of a-Id. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that by giving monoclonal antibodies idiotypically connected to a single bacterial component to neonatal rats, one profoundly influence the immune response also to other-spatially related-bacterial antigens in their offsprings.

Immune function across generations: integrating mechanism and evolutionary process in maternal antibody transmission

“…In one study (Lundin et al 1999), antibody response to intestinal colonization with E. coli did not differ between control rat pups and experimental pups that had been orally immunized with a mouse antibody directed against an E. coli capsular polysaccharide. However, in the second generation, the offspring of rats from the manipulated generation given E. coli antibodies had an enhanced antibody response to E. coli as well as to other structurally similar antigens as compared with the offspring of non-immunized mothers (Lundin et al 1999). The only exposure of pups in the second generation to the E. coli antigen had been through the immune network of the mother.…”

“…inducible defences involve trade-offs (Frost 1999). Therefore, we would expect that elevated maternal antibody transmission would necessitate reproductive trade-offs for females (Heeb et al 1998 (a) Environmental determinants of variation in maternal antibody transmission The diversity and quantity of specific antibodies transmitted to offspring have been shown to reflect differences in the local disease environment experienced by females prior to antibody transmission (Lemke & Lange 1999;Lundin et al 1999;Gasparini et al 2001). Females not exposed to particular pathogens prior to transmission will not transfer antibodies to those pathogens, leaving their offspring susceptible to infection Leitner et al 1990).…”

“…'Active immunity' indicates the point at which offspring endogenously produce antibodies at the same level as adults.) 1988; Gustafsson et al 1994) and strength and diversity of the immune response (Lemke & Lange 1999;Lundin et al 1999;table 2). These influences of maternal antibody transmission on offspring phenotype are examples of maternal effects (Mousseau & Fox 1998b;, whereby a trait of the mother (antibody transmission) affects variation in offspring phenotypic traits.…”

Maternal antibodies reduce costs of an immune response during development

“…Instead, maternally derived antibodies provide the primary form of humoral (antibody-mediated) immune defense (Brambell, 1970;Grindstaff et al, 2003). The diversity and quantity of specific antibodies transmitted to offspring have been shown to reflect differences in the local disease environment experienced by females prior to reproduction (Lemke and Lange, 1999;Lundin et al, 1999;Gasparini et al, 2001). Collectively, these antibodies represent the cumulative antigen exposure of females over their lifetime (Lemke et al, 2003).…”

Inibição da resposta de hipersensibilidade do Tipo I da prole de camundongos mediada pela imunização materna com o ácaro Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus

“…O protocolo de imunização materna pode interferir na seleção do repertório de células T e B e na tendência da resposta Th2 de camundongos neonatos. Neste contexto, tem sido observado que os anticorpos maternos contribuem na formação do repertório T e B e na resposta humoral da prole adulta [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] . Desta forma, é fundamental verificar o efeito da exposição precoce da prole ao alérgeno, e o desenvolvimento da hipersensibilidade do tipo I, ou seja, na resposta secundária.…”