Immune response to pneumococcal polysaccharides 4 and 14 in elderly and young adults: analysis of the variable heavy chain repertoire.

ABSTRACT: Streptococcus pneumoniae is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in both developed and developing countries. The current pneumococcal polysaccharide (PPS) vaccine is highly effective in young adults; however, vaccine efficacy is dramatically decreased in the elderly population. We hypothesized that the decreased vaccine efficacy in the elderly results from altered variable gene family usage. We have characterized the immunoglobulin G gene usage of the antibody response to PPS4 and PPS14 in 20 young and 20 elderly adults. The variable heavy (V(H)) gene repertoire of human peripheral B cells was amplified by using PCR. A total of 364 heavy chain sequences with specificity for PPS4 and 305 heavy chain sequences for PPS14 were analyzed from young adults. In addition, a total of 325 seque

SUBMITTER: Kolibab K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1273876 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature