We carried out a study on the adjuvant effect of Bordetella pertussis vaccine on the primary and secondary immune responses of the mouse to sheep erythrocytes, quantitating antibody-producing spleen cells and serum antibody. The simultaneous injection of sheep erythrocytes and B. pertussis, when compared to immunization with sheep red blood cells alone, resulted in an increased and prolonged multiplication of antibody-forming spleen cells. The adjuvant effect was also documented by increased production of serum hemolysins and agglutinins. Further, B. pertussis enhanced the priming effect of the antigen for the secondary response. However, when the bacterial adjuvant was given together with a second antigenic stimulus 41 days after the primary immunization, the peak values of direct and indirect plaque-forming spleen cells did not differ from the corresponding control animals further inoculated with sheep erythrocytes alone. Nonetheless, the influence of the bacterial adjuvant was still expressed by the delayed decrease of the numbers of plaque-forming spleen cells. On the basis of the X-Y-Z scheme it is suggested that B. pertussis cells as adjuvant enhance the multiplication of antigen-sensitive X cells or affect the initial stages of differentiation of these cells. This effect of the pertussis vaccine can be distinguished from a general proliferative action on other cells.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1970

Time Relationships Between Injection of Antigen and Adjuvant I. Adjuvancy of Bordetella pertussis Given at Various Times Before the Primary Antigenic Stimulus.

The adjuvant activity of Bordetella pertussis was investigated, both at the cellular and humoral levels, when the bacterial adjuvant was administered at various times before the primary antigenic stimulus of both 8 x 10(6) and 4 x 10(8) sheep erythrocytes. In all experiments, both adjuvant and erythrocyte antigen were given intraperitoneally. Adjuvant activity was measured on the basis of the primary immune response and on the degree of priming for the secondary immune reaction. A maximal effect on the primary immune response was found in mice which had received B. pertussis vaccine simultaneously with the erythrocyte antigen. A significant degree of adjuvancy was also demonstrable when B. pertussis vaccine was administered within a period of 48 hr before antigen. Adjuvant effectiveness was less as the time interval between the injection of antigen and adjuvant increased. The process of priming for the secondary response, however, was found to be equally affected when the adjuvant was given either simultaneously with the antigen or 12, 24, and 48 hr before sheep erythrocytes. On the basis of these and previous findings, it is suggested that adjuvancy of B. pertussis is caused chiefly by additional recruitment of responding cells. It is also suggested that memory-cell production may develop concurrently with, but independently of, the cellular proliferative events which lead to antibody formation during the primary immune response.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1970