TABLE 2.
Concentration of IgA antibodies after immunization with heat-inactivated pneumococci plus CT by various mucosal routesa
| Sample | Concn after immunization by indicated routea
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasalb | Oralb | Gastricc | Rectalb | Controlsb | |
| Serum | 103.3*** (9.9–757.7) | 31.3*** (7.2–130.4) | 2.9 (1.7–6.4) | 28.4** (5.0–140.4) | 1.5 (6.4–1.2) |
| Saliva | 5.5*** (3.8–83.7) | 2.3* (0.1–13.9) | 0.1 (0.1–0.2) | 0.1 (0.1–0.3) | 0.1 (0.1–0.1) |
| Lung lavage fluid | 0.8* (0.5–1.3) | 0.7* (0.1–3.2) | 0.1 (0.1–0.1) | 0.1 (0.1–0.2) | 0.1 (0.1–0.1) |
| Extracts of feces | 143.0*** (43.5–443.7) | 33.0 (10.0–193.5) | 10.0 (10.0–19.1) | 310.8*** (52.3–672.0) | 10.0 (10.0–28.0) |
a
Median concentrations (ranges) of IgA antibodies to whole pneumococci (kilounits per milliliter or kilounits per gram of dry feces); ***, P ≤ 0.005; **, 0.005 < P ≤ 0.01; *, 0.01 < P ≤ 0.05 (statistical significance versus the control group; Mann-Whitney U test).
b
n = 6.
c
n = 4.