Scientific article
English

Persistence of varicella-zoster virus-specific plasma cells in adult human bone marrow following childhood vaccination

Published inJournal of Virology, vol. 94, no. 13, p. e02127-19
Publication date2020
Abstract

Childhood immunization with the live-attenuated varicella-zoster virus (VZV) vaccine induces protective immune responses. Routine VZV vaccination started only 2 decades ago, and thus, there are few studies examining the longevity of vaccine-induced immunity. Here, we analyzed the quantity of VZV-specific plasma cells (PCs) and CD4 T cells in the bone marrow (BM) of healthy young adults (n = 15) following childhood VZV immunization. Long-lived BM resident plasma cells constitutively secrete antibodies, and we detected VZV-specific PCs in the BM of all subjects. Anti-VZV plasma antibody titers correlated positively with the number of VZV-specific BM PCs. Furthermore, we quantified the number of interferon gamma (IFN-γ)-producing CD4 T cells specific for VZV glycoprotein E and all other structural and nonstructural VZV proteins in both BM and blood (peripheral blood mononuclear cells [PBMCs]). The frequency of VZV-specific IFN-γ-producing CD4 T cells was significantly higher in PBMCs than BM. Our study shows that VZV-specific PCs and VZV-specific CD4 memory T cells persist up to 20 years after vaccination. These findings indicate that childhood VZV vaccination can elicit long-lived immune memory responses in the bone marrow.IMPORTANCE Childhood varicella-zoster virus (VZV) immunization induces immune memory responses that protect against primary VZV infection, chicken pox. In the United States, routine childhood VZV vaccination was introduced only 2 decades ago. Hence, there is limited information on the longevity of B and CD4 T cell memory, which are both important for protection. Here, we showed in 15 healthy young adults that VZV-specific B and CD4 T cell responses are detectable in bone marrow (BM) and blood up to 20 years after vaccination. Specifically, we measured antibody-secreting plasma cells in the BM and VZV-specific CD4 T cells in BM and blood. These findings suggest that childhood VZV vaccination induces long-lived immunity.

Citation (ISO format)
EBERHARDT, Christiane Sigrid et al. Persistence of varicella-zoster virus-specific plasma cells in adult human bone marrow following childhood vaccination. In: Journal of Virology, 2020, vol. 94, n° 13, p. e02127–19. doi: 10.1128/JVI.02127-19
Main files (1)
Article (Published version)
accessLevelRestricted
Secondary files (1)
Identifiers
Journal ISSN0022-538X
362views
0downloads

Technical informations

Creation16/10/2020 16:19:00
First validation16/10/2020 16:19:00
Update time15/03/2023 23:51:53
Status update15/03/2023 23:51:52
Last indexation31/10/2024 21:05:43
All rights reserved by Archive ouverte UNIGE and the University of GenevaunigeBlack