Heterogeneity of T cell responses to pandemic pH1N1 monovalent vaccine in HIV-infected pregnant women
Citation: Weinberg A, Muresan P, Richardson K, Fenton T, Dominguez T, Bloom A, Watts DH, Abzug MJ, Nachman SA, Levin MJ; P1086 Study Team. Heterogeneity of T cell responses to pandemic pH1N1 monovalent vaccine in HIV-infected pregnant women. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 2015 Nov;31(11):1170-7. doi: 10.1089/aid.2015.0151. Epub 2015 Aug 31. PMID: 26322930; PMCID: PMC4651022
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We investigated the Th1 protective and regulatory T and B cell (Treg and Breg) responses to pH1N1 monovalent influenza vaccine (IIV1) in HIV-infected pregnant women on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 52 study participants were cryopreserved before and after vaccination and analyzed by flow cytometry. pH1N1-specific Th1, Treg, and Breg responses were measured in PBMCs after in vitro stimulation with pH1N1 and control antigen. The cohort analysis did not detect changes in pH1N1-Th1, Treg, or Breg subsets postvaccination. However, individual analyses distinguished subjects who mounted vigorous Th1 responses postvaccination from others who did not. Postvaccination, high pH1N1-Th1 correlated with high pH1N1-Treg and Breg responses, suggesting that low influenza effector responses did not result from excessive vaccine-induced immune regulation. High postvaccination pH1N1-Th1 responses correlated with baseline high PHA- and pH1N1-IFN-γ ELISpot and circulating CD4(+)CD39(+)% and CD8(+)CD39(+)% Treg, with low CD8(+) cell numbers and CD19(+)FOXP3(+)% Breg, but not with CD4(+) cell numbers or HIV viral load. These data highlight the heterogeneity of T cell responses to vaccines in HIV-infected individuals on cART. Predictors of robust Th1 responses to IIV include CD8(+) cell numbers, T cell functionality, and circulating Breg and Treg.