Open AccessAntigenicity and protective effects of type 3 pneumococcal polysaccharide in rats
Author(s) -
Glenn R. Hodges,
S.E. Worley,
C E Degener,
Gary M. Clark
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
infection and immunity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.508
H-Index - 220
eISSN - 1070-6313
pISSN - 0019-9567
DOI - 10.1128/iai.28.3.832-836.1980
Subject(s) - streptococcus pneumoniae , microbiology and biotechnology , vaccination , pneumococcal infections , antigenicity , pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine , immunology , antibody , polysaccharide , biology , meningitis , medicine , antibiotics , pneumococcal disease , biochemistry , psychiatry
The response to type 3 pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccination, the protective effect of type 3 pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccination, and the ability of hemagglutinating antibody to type 3 pneumococcal polysaccharide to cross the blood-brain barrier were studied in rats. Hemagglutinating antibody response to vaccination with type 3 pneumococcal polysaccharide was found to be dependent on the dose and route of inoculation. Intraperitoneal vaccination with type 3 pneumococcal polysaccharide protected the rats from subsequent intraperitoneal challenge with type 3 Streptococcus pneumoniae but had no effect after intracisternal challenge with type 3 S. pneumoniae. In the presence or absence of sterile meningeal inflammation, hemagglutinating antibody could not be found in cerebrospinal fluid of animals vaccinated intraperitoneally with type 3 pneumococcal polysaccharide. These results suggest that type 3 pneumococcal polysaccharide is antigenic in rats and intraperitoneal vaccination with type 3 pneumococcal polysaccharide does not protect against experimental meningitis because antibodies do not cross the blood-brain barrier.