Division of Genetics, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Science. 2019 Nov 1;366(6465):599-606. doi: 10.1126/science.aay6485.
Measles virus is directly responsible for more than 100,000 deaths yearly. Epidemiological studies have associated measles with increased morbidity and mortality for years after infection, but the reasons why are poorly understood. Measles virus infects immune cells, causing acute immune suppression. To identify and quantify long-term effects of measles on the immune system, we used VirScan, an assay that tracks antibodies to thousands of pathogen epitopes in blood. We studied 77 unvaccinated children before and 2 months after natural measles virus infection. Measles caused elimination of 11 to 73% of the antibody repertoire across individuals. Recovery of antibodies was detected after natural reexposure to pathogens. Notably, these immune system effects were not observed in infants vaccinated against MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella), but were confirmed in measles-infected macaques. The reduction in humoral immune memory after measles infection generates potential vulnerability to future infections, underscoring the need for widespread vaccination.
麻疹病毒每年直接导致超过 10 万人死亡。流行病学研究表明，麻疹感染后数年仍与发病率和死亡率增加有关，但原因尚不清楚。麻疹病毒感染免疫细胞，导致急性免疫抑制。为了确定麻疹病毒对免疫系统的长期影响，我们使用了 VirScan，这是一种可以在血液中追踪数千种病原体表位抗体的检测方法。我们在自然感染麻疹病毒前和 2 个月后对 77 名未接种疫苗的儿童进行了研究。麻疹病毒在个体间导致 11%至 73%的抗体库被消除。在自然重新接触病原体后，检测到抗体恢复。值得注意的是，这些免疫系统的影响在接种了 MMR（麻疹、腮腺炎和风疹）疫苗的婴儿中并未观察到，但在感染麻疹的猕猴中得到了证实。麻疹感染后体液免疫记忆的减少会导致对未来感染的潜在易感性，这突显了广泛接种疫苗的必要性。
