Department of Virology, School of Public Health, International Campus, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Rehabilitation Clinic for Children with Special needs (RCCS), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
J Med Virol. 2019 Jul;91(7):1272-1278. doi: 10.1002/jmv.25429. Epub 2019 Feb 27.
Responsiveness to hepatitis B vaccine among patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has not been evaluated worldwide. We aimed to determine the anti-HBs antibody duration in autistic and healthy children few years after primary vaccination and evaluate their immunological memory against hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine with booster dose administration.
One hundred seven and 147 HBsAg-negative children from ASD and normal population were recruited, respectively. HBV seromarkers (HBc-Ab, HBsAg, and HBs-Ab) were assessed and subsequently, molecular tests were used on all the subjects. A booster dose of vaccine was injected for those who showed low levels (<10 mIU/mL) of anti-HBs and their antibody levels was measured 4 weeks later.
The mean ages of ASD and control groups were 7.14 ± 2.42 and 8.68 ± 1.96, respectively. Seven (6.5%) of the ASD group were positive for anti-HBc and one child was positive for occult hepatitis B infection (HBsAg negative, HBV DNA positive). In ASD, 54 (50.4%) and 53 (49.6%) had adequate (>10 mIU/mL) and low anti-HBs levels, respectively. Among control group, 74 (50.4%) and 73 (49.6%) had sufficient and low antibody levels, respectively. After injection of a booster dose for all children with low antibody, 100% of ASD and 92% (59 of 64) of control pupils contained >10 mIU/mL of antibody, respectively. In both the groups, the HBs-Ab titer increased similarly in response to the booster injection (P < 0.05).
Despite previous investigations regarding immune impairment in individuals with autism, the immune system of these individuals was able to manage the hepatitis B vaccine challenge.
全世界尚未评估自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）患者对乙型肝炎疫苗的反应性。我们旨在确定自闭症和健康儿童在初次接种疫苗后几年内抗-HBs 抗体的持续时间，并通过给予加强剂量来评估他们对乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）疫苗的免疫记忆。
分别招募了 107 名和 147 名 HBsAg 阴性的 ASD 儿童和正常人群。检测 HBV 血清标志物（HBc-Ab、HBsAg 和抗-HBs），然后对所有受试者进行分子检测。对于抗-HBs 水平较低（<10 mIU/mL）的受试者给予加强剂量疫苗，并在 4 周后测量其抗体水平。
ASD 组和对照组的平均年龄分别为 7.14 ± 2.42 岁和 8.68 ± 1.96 岁。ASD 组有 7 例（6.5%）抗-HBc 阳性，1 例为隐匿性乙型肝炎感染（HBsAg 阴性，HBV DNA 阳性）。在 ASD 中，54 例（50.4%）和 53 例（49.6%）具有足够的（>10 mIU/mL）和低的抗-HBs 水平。在对照组中，74 例（50.4%）和 73 例（49.6%）分别有足够和低的抗体水平。对于所有低抗体儿童给予加强剂量后，ASD 组和对照组的 100%（100/100）和 92%（59/64）的儿童抗体水平均>10 mIU/mL。在两组中，加强注射后抗-HBs 滴度均增加（P<0.05）。
尽管先前有研究表明自闭症个体的免疫系统受损，但这些个体的免疫系统能够应对乙型肝炎疫苗的挑战。
