Infant HIV Type 1 gp120 Vaccination Elicits Robust and Durable Anti-V1V2 Immunoglobulin G Responses and Only Rare Envelope-Specific Immunoglobulin A Responses

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases Vol. 211; no. 4; pp. 508 - 517
• Main Authors: Fouda, Genevieve G., Cunningham, Coleen K., McFarland, Elizabeth J., Borkowsky, William, Muresan, Petronella, Pollara, Justin, Song, Lin Ye, Liebl, Brooke E., Whitaker, Kaylan, Shen, Xiaoying, Vandergrift, Nathan A., Overman, R. Glenn, Yates, Nicole L., Moody, M. Anthony, Fry, Carrie, Kim, Jerome H., Michael, Nelson L., Robb, Merlin, Pitisuttithum, Punnee, Kaewkungwal, Jaranit, Nitayaphan, Sorachai, Rerks-Ngarm, Supachai, Liao, Hua-Xin, Haynes, Barton F., Montefiori, David C., Ferrari, Guido, Tomaras, Georgia D., Permar, Sallie R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Oxford University Press 15.02.2015
• Series: Editor's choice
• Subjects: AIDS Vaccines - administration & dosage; AIDS Vaccines - immunology; HIV Antibodies - blood; HIV Antibodies - immunology; HIV Envelope Protein gp120 - immunology; HIV Infections - prevention & control; HIV-1 - immunology; HIV/AIDS; Human immunodeficiency virus; Human immunodeficiency virus 1; Humans; Immunoglobulin A - blood; Immunoglobulin A - immunology; Immunoglobulin G - blood; Immunoglobulin G - immunology; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Major and Brief Reports; Retrospective Studies; HIV-1; vaccine; antibodies; infants
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiu444

Background. Infant responses to vaccines can be impeded by maternal antibodies and immune system immaturity. It is therefore unclear whether human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) vaccination would elicit similar responses in adults and infants. Method. HIV-1 Env-specific antibody responses were evaluated in 2 completed pediatric vaccine trials. In the Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group (PACTG) 230 protocol, infants were vaccinated with 4 doses of Chiron rgp120 with MF59 (n = 48), VaxGen rgp120 with aluminum hydroxide (alum; n = 49), or placebo (n = 19) between 0 and 20 weeks of age. In PACTG 326, infants received 4 doses of ALVAC-HIV-1/AIDSVAX B/B with alum (n = 9) or placebo (n = 13) between 0 and 12 weeks of age. Results. By 52 weeks of age, the majority of maternally acquired antibodies had waned and vaccine Env-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) responses in vaccinees were higher than in placebo recipients. Chiron vaccine recipients had higher and more-durable IgG responses than VaxGen vaccine recipients or ALVAC/AIDSVAX vaccinees, with vaccine-elicited IgG responses still detectable in 56% of recipients at 2 years of age. Remarkably, at peak immunogenicity, the concentration of anti-V1V2 IgG, a response associated with a reduced risk of HIV-1 acquisition in the RV144 adult vaccine trial, was 22-fold higher in Chiron vaccine recipients, compared with RV144 vaccinees. Conclusion. As exemplified by the Chiron vaccine regimen, vaccination of infants against HIV-1 can induce robust, durable Env-specific IgG responses, including anti-V1V2 IgG.