ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Vaccines and Molecular Therapeutics
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1569151
This article is part of the Research TopicVaccines and Breakthrough InfectionsView all 7 articles
Avidity of pertussis toxin antibodies following vaccination with genetically versus chemically detoxified pertussis toxin-containing vaccines during pregnancy
Provisionally accepted
Bahaa Abu-Raya1
Giuseppe Del Giudice2
Anita H.J. Van Den Biggelaar2,3Yuxiao Tang4Niranjan Bhat4Hong Thai Pham2
Wassana Wijagkanalan2*- 1Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
- 2BioNet, Bangkok, Thailand
- 3Centre for Child Health Research, Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
- 4PATH, Seattle, Washington, United States
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Background: Both the quantity and quality of circulating anti-pertussis toxin antibodies are important for protection against severe pertussis. We compared the avidity of PT-IgG antibodies in pregnant women and their infants following vaccination during pregnancy with pertussis vaccines containing genetically-detoxified pertussis toxin (PTgen) or chemically-detoxified PT (PTchem).We analyzed serum samples collected earlier from pregnant women (at delivery) and their infants (at birth and 2 months of age) participating in a clinical trial where pregnant women had been vaccinated during pregnancy with recombinant acellular pertussis vaccine containing 1 µg PTgen (standalone, ap1gen, [n=37], or combined to tetanus and diphtheria, Tdap1gen [n=34]), 2 µg PTgen (Tdap2gen, n=35), or 5 µg PTgen (TdaP5gen, n=34), or acellular pertussis vaccine containing 8 µg PTchem (Tdap8chem, n=35). Avidity was assessed by adding increasing concentrations (0.25, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, and 3 M) of NH4SCN as a bond-breaking agent and measuring PT-IgG levels by ELISA.Findings Compared with Tdap8chem, TdaP5gen vaccination was associated with significantly higher total absolute avidity (p<0.001) and medium-high to very-high avidity PT-IgG levels (p0.02) in mothers at delivery, infants at birth and infants at 2 months of age. Avidity was comparable to Tdap8chem after vaccination with the lowdose PTgen formulations (ap1gen, Tdap1gen or Tdap2gen). There were no differences for vaccination during the 2 nd or 3 rd trimester of pregnancy.Interpretation: Compared with chemically detoxified vaccines, vaccination during pregnancy with recombinant genetically detoxified acellular pertussis vaccine at lower PT concentration provides infants with at least similar or higher quality PT-IgG 3 | P a g e antibodies. Consequently, recombinant pertussis vaccines may offer comparable or better protection against pertussis.
Keywords: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Pertussis, avidity, Pertussis Toxin, genetically inactivated, Recombinant vaccine, maternal immunization, Vaccination during pregnancy
Received: 31 Jan 2025; Accepted: 23 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Abu-Raya, Del Giudice, Van Den Biggelaar, Tang, Bhat, Pham and Wijagkanalan. 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: Wassana Wijagkanalan, BioNet, Bangkok, Thailand
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