Do Maternal Antibodies Inhibit Newborn Immunization? (84.15)

• Published in: The Journal of immunology (1950) Vol. 184; no. 1_Supplement; pp. 84 - 84.15
• Main Authors: Akpinarli, Akgul, Matzinger, Polly
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-04-2010
• ISSN: 0022-1767; 1550-6606
• DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.184.Supp.84.15

Investigations with measles vaccine suggested that persisting maternal antibodies might inhibit active immunization in the newborn. Because evolutionarily this makes no sense, it prompted us to revisit the relationship between maternal antibodies and neonatal immunity. We primed and boosted adult B6 mice against OVA and analyzed the level of OVA-specific antibodies in the serum of the progeny at various times after birth. The offspring of immunized mothers acquired high levels of antibodies, which lasted for the duration of lactation and then waned, disappearing at about 120 days for IgG1 and 50 days for IgG2a. Next, newborn mice were immunized after acquiring high titer of passively transferred antibody from their mother. We found that there was no apparent impairment of responsiveness as they made high titers of anti-OVA antibodies, and these did not wane, unlike those of their unimmunized littermates. Because the contribution of antibodies from the newborn could not be determined, we used a congenic marker system to discriminate maternal antibodies from those made by their progeny (Igha and Ighb). We found that newborn mice from both groups produced similar levels of Igha or Ighb antibodies against OVA. Therefore we conclude that newborn born immunization was not hindered by the presence of maternal antibodies.