Evaluation of Anti-pertussis IgG Serum Titers Over Time in a Murine Model

Emily Airing,* Kelly Weaver and Mariette Barbier, Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cell Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505

Field (Broad Category): Medical Sciences-Immunology (Health Sciences) 

Student’s Major: Immunology and Medical Microbiology 

Bordetella pertussis is a Gram-negative bacterium, which is the causative agent of whooping cough. This infection is highly contagious, and mostly affects children under the age of twelve months, who have not yet completed the vaccination course. Pertussis, Diphtheria and Tetanus are the diseases targeted by the acellular pertussis vaccines. DTaP is administered to children in five doses between the ages of 0 and 6 years, which includes formaldehyde-inactivated forms of pertussis, diphtheria and tetanus toxins, as well as other B. pertussis antigens. In this study, the long-term vaccine-induced memory responses of both the acellular and whole-cell B. pertussis vaccines were evaluated in a murine model. Antibodies are known correlates of protection for pertussis vaccines, thus serum IgG antibody titers of acellular vaccinated versus whole-cell vaccinated mice were evaluated over the course of 90 days. The IgG antibody response was measured over time to determine the longevity of antibody production in response to pertussis antigens, and was compared to titers for diphtheria and tetanus toxoids. This datum is important for development of a new acellular pertussis vaccine that can provide a long-term vaccine-induced memory, and prevent infection and death amongst infants. 

Funding: NIH 

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: Other Undergraduate Research Assistant