Mycobacterium ulcerans-specific immune response after immunisation with bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine

Laure F Pittet; Marc Tebruegge; Binita Dutta; Susan Donath; Nicole Messina; Dan Casalaz; Willem A Hanekom; Warwick J Britton; Roy Robins-Browne; Nigel Curtis; Nicole Ritz; BCG Immune Response Study (BIRS) group

doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.11.045

Mycobacterium ulcerans-specific immune response after immunisation with bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine

Vaccine. 2021 Jan 22;39(4):652-657. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.11.045. Epub 2020 Dec 25.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Infectious Diseases Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Infectious Diseases Unit, The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
² Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom; Department of Paediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Evelina London Children's Hospital, Guy's and St. Thomas' National Health Service Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom.
³ Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, KU Leuven, Louvain, Belgium.
⁴ Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
⁵ Infectious Diseases Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
⁶ Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Mercy Hospital for Women, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.
⁷ Africa Health Research Institute, Durban, South Africa.
⁸ Centenary Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁹ Infectious Diseases Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
¹⁰ Infectious Diseases Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Infectious Diseases Unit, The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia. Electronic address: nigel.curtis@rch.org.au.
¹¹ Infectious Diseases Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; University of Basel Children's Hospital Basel, Infectious Diseases Unit and Migrant Health Service, Basel, Switzerland; Mycobacterial Research Laboratory, Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.

PMID: 33371993
DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.11.045

Abstract

Background: Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine provides partial protection against Buruli ulcer caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans in epidemiological studies. This study aimed to quantify M. ulcerans-specific immune responses induced by BCG immunisation.

Methods: Intracellular cytokine analysis of in-vitro experiments done 10 weeks after BCG immunisation in 130 Australian infants randomised to one of three BCG vaccine strains given either at birth (BCG-Denmark, BCG-Japan, or BCG-Russia) or at two months of age (BCG-Denmark).

Results: Proportions of polyfunctional CD4⁺ T-cells were higher in M. ulcerans-stimulated compared to unstimulated control samples. These proportions were not influenced by the vaccine strain or timing of the immunisation. The M. ulcerans-specific immune responses showed similar patterns to those observed in M. tuberculosis-stimulated samples, although they were of lower magnitude.

Conclusions: Our data show that BCG immunisation induces M. ulcerans-specific immune responses in infants, likely explaining the cross-protective effect observed in epidemiological studies. (ACTRN12608000227392).

Keywords: Buruli ulcer; Cross-protection; Mycobacterium bovis; Mycolactone; Prevention; Randomised controlled trial.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Australia
BCG Vaccine
Humans
Immunity
Immunization
Infant
Japan
Mycobacterium bovis*
Mycobacterium ulcerans*
Russia

Substances

BCG Vaccine