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

Authors:

• Pittet, Laure F.
• Tebruegge, Marc
• Dutta, Binita
• Donath, Susan
• Messina, Nicole
• Casalaz, Dan
• Hanekom, Willem A.
• Britton, Warwick J.
• Robins-Browne, Roy
• Curtis, Nigel
• Ritz, Nicole

Details:

Vaccine, Volume 39, Issue 4, 2021-01-22

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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)