TABLE 3.
Cytokine mRNA expression in PBMCs
| Subjects (no.) | Antigen | % of subjects with cytokine mRNA expression
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IFN-γ | IL-2 | IL-4 | IL-5 | ||
| Vaccinees (8)a | PT | 38 | 100 | 38 | 88 |
| FHA | 63 | 100 | 38 | 50 | |
| PRN | 20 | 100 | 60 | 80 | |
| Patients (6)b | PT | 50 | 100 | 67 | 60 |
| FHA | 83 | 100 | 50 | 100 | |
| PRN | 17 | 100 | 33 | 20 | |
| Controls (6)c | PT | 0 | 67 | 0 | 0 |
| FHA | 0 | 67 | 0 | 0 | |
| PRN | 0 | 67 | 0 | 0 | |
a
Vaccinees (V1 to V5) were immunized with the DTaP vaccine containing PT, FHA, and PRN 1 month earlier; V6 to V8 had been immunized with the bivalent PT-FHA vaccine 7 years earlier and were not included in the results for responses to PRN.
b
All patients were culture positive for B. pertussis. At the time of sampling, five patients (P1 to P4 and P8) had been coughing for 1 to 17 weeks, and one patient (P7) was asymptomatic. IL-2 mRNA expression was weakly positive in the PBMCs stimulated with PRN; IL-5 mRNA expression was not tested in patient P2.
c
Four controls (C2 and C6 to C8) were healthy adults; two (C15 and C16) were newborns.