Systemic and Terminal Ileum Mucosal Immunity Elicited by Oral Immunization With the Ty21a Typhoid Vaccine in Humans.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Systemic cellular immunity elicited by the Ty21a oral typhoid vaccine has been extensively characterized. However, very limited data are available in humans regarding mucosal immunity at the site of infection (terminal ileum [TI]). Here we investigated the host immunity elicited by Ty21a immunization on terminal ileum-lamina propria mononuclear cells (LPMC) and peripheral blood in volunteers undergoing routine colonoscopy.

METHODS

We characterized LPMC-T memory (T) subsets and assessed serovar Typhi ( Typhi)-specific responses by multichromatic flow cytometry.

RESULTS

No differences were observed in cell yields and phenotypes in LPMC CD8-T subsets following Ty21a immunization. However, Ty21a immunization elicited LPMC CD8 T cells exhibiting significant Typhi-specific responses (interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-17A, and/or CD107a) in all major T subsets (T-effector/memory [T], T-central/memory, and T-CD45RA), although each T subset exhibited unique characteristics. We also investigated whether Ty21a immunization elicited Typhi-specific multifunctional effectors in LPMC CD8 T. We observed that LPMC CD8 T responses were mostly multifunctional, except for those cells exhibiting the characteristics associated with cytotoxic responses. Finally, we compared mucosal with systemic responses and made the important observation that LPMC CD8 Typhi-specific responses were unique and distinct from their systemic counterparts.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides the first demonstration of Typhi-specific responses in the human terminal ileum mucosa and provides novel insights into the generation of mucosal immune responses following oral Ty21a immunization.