Comparison of the antibodies in lymphocyte supernatant and antibody-secreting cell assays for measuring intestinal mucosal immune response to a novel oral typhoid vaccine (M01ZH09).

Author(s): Kirkpatrick BD, Bentley MD, Thern AM, Larsson CJ, Ventrone C, Sreenivasan MV, Bourgeois L

Affiliation(s): University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT 05405. beth.kirkpatrick@uvm.edu

Publication date & source: 2005-09, Clin Diagn Lab Immunol., 12(9):1127-9.

Publication type: Clinical Trial; Randomized Controlled Trial

Antibody-secreting cell (ASC) and antibodies in lymphocyte supernatant (ALS) assays are used to assess intestinal mucosal responses to enteric infections and vaccines. The ALS assay, performed on cell supernatants, may represent a convenient alternative to the more established ASC assay. The two methods, measuring immunoglobulin A to Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi lipopolysaccharide, were compared in volunteers vaccinated with a live-attenuated typhoid vaccine M01ZH09. The specificity of the ALS assay compared to the ASC assay was excellent (100%), as was sensitivity (82%). The ALS assay was less sensitive than the ASC assay at <or=42 spots/10(6) peripheral blood lymphocytes.