Effects of Antenatal and Postnatal Environments on CD4 T-Cell Responses toMycobacterium bovisBCG in Healthy Infants in The Gambia

Abstract

The Mycobacterium bovis BCG vaccine has a poor record of efficacy in low-income tropical settings. Against this background, we evaluated the immune response of infants to mycobacterial antigens over the 2 years following BCG vaccination at birth by measuring the gamma interferon (IFN-␥), interleukin-2 (IL-2), and CD154 responses of CD4 T cells. Similar numbers of cells expressed IFN-␥ in infants, 4-to 5-year-old children, and adults, while CD154 was not expressed at comparable levels until the second year of infancy. The IL-2 response remained relatively low in infants, children, and adults but correlated negatively with mother's body mass index and was highest among infants born to Mandinka mothers. Similarly, infants born in the wet season had a stronger CD154 response than those born in the dry season throughout the 2 years of the study. We conclude that the prenatal and perinatal environments have a lasting effect on the response of infants to the BCG vaccine.

Effects of Malnutrition on Children's Immunity to Bacterial Antigens in Northern Senegal

“…25 The role of hunger season during fetal life or early infancy on children immunity later in life has been the focus of other research works: numerous findings have hypothesized that critical periods of nutritional starvation in early life influence the maturation of immunity or response to vaccination. 3,13,14,26 For instance, the work by Moore and others 14 has described that adults born with a low birth weight displayed a reduced antibody response to a polysaccharide vaccine, but this result remains debated for other vaccines. 27 However, the season of crops and harvesting after the rainy seasons could favor a greater nutritional and immune development of newborns.…”

“…The effectiveness of vaccines is unquestionable, but evidence suggests that a number of environmental and seasonal factors modulate immunity and limit the strength of vaccine-elicited responses in individuals. [1][2][3][4][5][6] Malnutrition is widely recognized as a major public health concern in many developing countries. This condition mostly affects children, and its hypothesized role as a determinant of immune dysfunctions as well as morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases has been outlined in several recent articles.…”

“…2,4,5,11,12 Perinatal undernutrition, in particular, is a possible predictor of immunological alteration. 3,13,14 Moreover, most studies have been carried out at the time of vaccination, with no detectable effect of nutrient supplementation or malnutrition on the development of the immune response in early life. 10 Indeed, post-vaccination studies that dissect putative associations between malnutrition and established immunity to vaccine antigens during childhood remain scarce.…”

Effects of Malaria in Pregnancy (MiP) on Pregnancy Development and its Outcome: a Critical Review

“…When severe malaria is poorly or not treated during pregnancy, the newborn suffers the consequence. In the case of impaired feto-maternal transfer, there is also a reduced passive immunity transfer from mother to fetus [108,109]. Currently, there is little evidence of immunosuppressive effect of malaria in newborn.…”

Real vaccines in the real world: tuberculosis vaccines move south

“…In Pakistan, adult vaccinees showed associations of antibody titer with the month that the vaccine was administered for rabies and typhoid vaccines [29]. Another recent study assessed IFN-γ , IL-2 and CD154 (CD40L) expression in CD4 T cells stimulated with PPD following neonatal BCG vaccination in Gambian infants [30]. Infants born in the wet season had a significantly higher proportion of CD4 T cells expressing CD154 than those born in the dry season, with the main effects seen at 12 months of age.…”