Specificity andin vitrotransfer of the immunosuppressive effectof detergent-disrupted influenza virus vaccine

Abstract

SUMMARYPrimed murine splenocytes give an in vitro antibody response to influenza whole virus vaccine (WVV), as measured by enzyme immunoassay (EIA). When subunit vaccine (SV) of cither influenza A or influenza B virus was added to in vitro splenocytc cultures stimulated with WVV, the EIA antibody response to homologous WVV was reduced. This reduction in antibody response was observed when SV was prepared using zwitterionic detergent (empigen BB), non-ionic detergent (triton-X-IOO) or cationic detergent cctyl-trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB); it was found lo be effeeted only by SV of strains of the same virus subtype-when SVs prepared from a heterotypie (H3N2) strain, an HINI strain and an influenza B strain were added to splenocytc cultures in the presence of WVV. When splenocytes from immunotogically naive mice, exposed in vitro to SV. were transferred to secondary cultures of primed splenocytes. the antibody response to WVV in the secondary cultures was also reduced. Mechanisms that may suppress the in vitro antibody response are discussed.