Mucosal immunity in healthy adults after parenteral vaccination with outer-membrane vesicles from Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B

Background. Nasopharyngeal carriage of meningococcus or related species leads to protective immunity in adolescence or early adulthood. This natural immunity is associated with mucosal and systemic T cell memory. Whether parenteral Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B (MenB) vaccination influences natural mucosal immunity is unknown. Objectives. To determine whether parenteral MenB vaccination affects mucosal immunity in young adults and whether this immunity differs from that induced in the blood. Methods. Otherwise healthy volunteers were immunized with MenB outer membrane vesicle vaccine before and after routine tonsillectomy. Mucosal and systemic immunity were assessed in 9 vaccinees and 12 unvaccinated control subjects by measuring mononuclear cell proliferation, cytokine production, Th1/Th2 surface marker expression, and antibody to MenB antigens. Results. Parenteral vaccination induced a marked increase in systemic T cell immunity against MenB and a Th1 bias. In contrast, although mucosal T cell proliferation in response to MenB neither increased nor decreased following vaccination, mononuclear cell interferon γ, interleukin (IL)-5, and IL-10 production increased, and the Th1/Th2 profile lost its Th1 bias. Conclusions. Parenteral MenB vaccination selectively reprograms preexisting naturally acquired mucosal immunity. As new-generation protein-based MenB vaccine candidates undergo evaluation, the impact of these vaccines on mucosal immunity in both adults and children will need to be addressed. © 2008 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.