Full text

Turn on search term navigation

© 2012 Glennie et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Worldwide, invasive pneumococcal disease caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae is most common in young children. In adults, disease rates decline following intermittent colonization and the acquisition of naturally acquired immunity. We characterized mucosal and systemic pneumococcal-specific T-cell responses in African children and adults who contend with intense rates of colonization, up to 100% and 60% respectively. We find most Malawian children have high pneumococcal-specific T-cell responses in tonsil tissue and peripheral blood. In addition, frequent commensalism generates CD25hi (Tregs) which modulate mucosal pneumococcal-specific T-cell responses in some children and ≥50% of adults. We propose that immune regulation may prolong pneumococcal colonization and predispose vulnerable individuals to disease.

Details

Title
Regulation of Naturally Acquired Mucosal Immunity to Streptococcus pneumoniae in Healthy Malawian Adults and Children
Author
Glennie, Sarah J; Banda, Dominic; Mulwafu, Wakisa; Nkhata, Rose; Williams, Neil A; Heyderman, Robert S
First page
e51425
Section
Research Article
Publication year
2012
Publication date
Dec 2012
Publisher
Public Library of Science
e-ISSN
19326203
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
1327184073
Copyright
© 2012 Glennie et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.