High proportions of regulatory B and T cells are associated with decreased cellular responses to pH1N1 influenza vaccine in HIV-infected children and youth (IMPAACT P1088)
Citation: Weinberg A, Muresan P, Fenton T, Richardson K, Dominguez T, Bloom A, Petzold E, Anthony P, Cunningham CK, Spector SA, Nachman S, Siberry GK, Handelsman E, Flynn PM; IMPAACT P1088 study team. High proportions of regulatory B and T cells are associated with decreased cellular responses to pH1N1 influenza vaccine in HIV-infected children and youth (IMPAACT P1088). Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2013 May;9(5):957-68. doi: 10.4161/hv.23774. Epub 2013 Jan 31. PMID: 23370281; PMCID: PMC3899162
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HIV-infected individuals have poor responses to inactivated influenza vaccines. To evaluate the potential role of regulatory T (Treg) and B cells (Breg), we analyzed their correlation with humoral and cell-mediated immune (CMI) responses to pandemic influenza (pH1N1) monovalent vaccine in HIV-infected children and youth. Seventy-four HIV-infected, 4- to 25-y old participants in a 2-dose pH1N1 vaccine study had circulating and pH1N1-stimulated Treg and Breg measured by flow cytometry at baseline, post-dose 1 and post-dose 2. Concomitantly, CMI was measured by ELISPOT and flow cytometry; and antibodies by hemagglutination inhibition (HAI). At baseline, most of the participants had pH1N1-specific IFNγ ELISPOT responses, whose magnitude positively correlated with the baseline pH1N1, but not with seasonal H1N1 HAI titers. pH1N1-specific IFNγ ELISPOT responses did not change post-dose 1 and significantly decreased post-dose 2. In contrast, circulating CD4+CD25+% and CD4+FOXP3+% Treg increased after vaccination. The decrease in IFNγ ELISPOT results was marginally associated with higher pH1N1-specific CD19+FOXP3+ and CD4+TGFβ+% Breg and Treg, respectively. In contrast, increases in HAI titers post-dose 1 were associated with significantly higher circulating CD19+CD25+% post-dose 1, whereas increases in IFNγ ELISPOT results post-dose 1 were associated with higher circulating CD4+/C8+CD25+FOXP3+%. In conclusion, in HIV-infected children and youth, influenza-specific Treg and Breg may contribute to poor responses to vaccination. However, robust humoral and CMI responses to vaccination may result in increased circulating Treg and/or Breg, establishing a feed-back mechanism.