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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Parasite Immunology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1460183

Pre vaccination Schistosoma mansoni and hookworm infections are associated with altered vaccine immune responses: a longitudinal analysis among adolescents living in helminth-endemic islands of Lake Victoria, Uganda

Provisionally accepted
Agnes Natukunda Agnes Natukunda 1*Ludoviko Zirimenya Ludoviko Zirimenya 2Gyaviira Nkurunungi Gyaviira Nkurunungi 2Jacent Nassuuna Jacent Nassuuna 2Ronald Nkangi Ronald Nkangi 2Alex Mutebe Alex Mutebe 2Paul Corstjens Paul Corstjens 3Govert Van Dam Govert Van Dam 3Alison Elliott Alison Elliott 2Emily Webb Emily Webb 4
  • 1 Medical Research Council/Uganda Virus Research Institute and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (MRC/UVRI and LSHTM) Uganda Research Unit, Entebbe, Uganda
  • 2 London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Uganda Research Unit, Medical Research Council (Uganda), Entebbe, Uganda
  • 3 Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden, Netherlands
  • 4 London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London, London, London, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Variations in vaccine responses have been observed between populations. A role for helminth infections has been proposed due to their immunomodulatory properties. In a secondary analysis of data from a randomised trial assessing effects of anthelminthic treatment on vaccine responses, we examined associations between helminth infections at baseline prior to vaccine administration, and vaccine responses among adolescents (9-17 years) in Koome Islands, Lake Victoria, Uganda.: Participants received BCG [week 0], yellow fever (YF-17D), oral typhoid (Ty21a), HPV-prime [week 4], and HPV-boost, tetanus/diphtheria [week 28]. Outcomes were BCG-specific interferon-ɣ ELISpot responses and antibody responses to yellow-fever-, typhoid-, HPV-, tetanus-and diphtheriaspecific antigens measured at two time points post vaccination. S. mansoni infection was determined as positive if either the plasma Circulating Anodic Antigen (CAA) assay or stool PCR were positive. Hookworm and Strongyloides were determined by stool PCR. Linear mixed effects regression was used to assess associations.Results: Among 478 adolescents, 70% were Schistosoma mansoni (Sm) infected and 23% hookworm infected at baseline. Sm was associated with lower Salmonella Typhi O:LPS-specific IgG responses (adjusted geometric mean ratio (aGMR) 0.69 (0.57-0.83)), and hookworm with higher diphtheriaspecific IgG (aGMR 1.16 (1.02, 1.31)) and lower HPV-16-specific IgG (aGMR 0.70 (0.55, 0.90)) postvaccination. High Sm intensity was associated with lower BCG-specific interferon-g and S. Typhi O:LPSspecific IgG.We found inverse associations between Sm and responses to two live vaccines, whereas hookworm was positively associated with diphtheria-specific IgG. These findings support the hypothesis that helminth infections can modulate vaccine responses, while also highlighting potential heterogeneity in the direction of these effects.

    Keywords: Helminths, Schistosoma mansoni, hookworm, Vaccines, Immune responses, antibody responses

    Received: 05 Jul 2024; Accepted: 08 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Natukunda, Zirimenya, Nkurunungi, Nassuuna, Nkangi, Mutebe, Corstjens, Van Dam, Elliott and Webb. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Agnes Natukunda, Medical Research Council/Uganda Virus Research Institute and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (MRC/UVRI and LSHTM) Uganda Research Unit, Entebbe, Uganda

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