No abstract

Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI) is a major pathogen of otitis media. One of the outer membrane proteins of NTHI, P6, is an antigen common to all strains and is considered as a candidate for mucosal vaccine. To elucidate the possibility of developing a nasal vaccine against nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI) and to investigate mucosal immune responses in the middle ear, mice were immunized intranasally with the P6 outer membrane protein of NTHI, and P6-specific immune responses in the middle ear mucosa were examined. Mice were given with P6 and cholera toxin intranasally as an adjuvant on days 0, 7, and 14 and were killed on day 21. The P6-specific immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibody titer in ear wash was significantly elevated. Mononuclear cells were isolated from middle ear mucosa, and an increase in P6-specific IgA-producing cells was shown with an enzyme-linked immunospot assay. In addition, an increase in memory T cells in middle ear mucosa was detected with flow cytometric analysis after intranasal immunization. Moreover, in vitro stimulation with P6 resulted in proliferation of purified CD4 ؉ T cells from immunized mice, and these T cells expressed Th2 cytokine mRNA. These results indicate that P6-specific IgA-B-cell immune responses and selected Th2 cytokine expressing Th cells were induced in middle ear mucosa by intranasal immunization. These findings suggest that a nasal vaccine is useful for preventing otitis media with effusion.Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI) is a major pathogen of otitis media with effusion (OME) and other upper respiratory tract diseases (10, 30). In patients with OME, this bacterium is frequently isolated from the nasopharynx, as well as from middle ear effusions, and the inhibition of NTHI colonization in the upper respiratory tract is considered effective in preventing OME. Due to the increase of antibiotic-resistant strains of NTHI in recent years, the development of a vaccine against this bacterium is considered an important goal for public health. Since NTHI lacks capsular antigens, the chief antigenicity is present in the outer membrane proteins (OMPs). One of the OMPs of NTHI, P6, is a common antigen to all strains and is considered as a candidate for mucosal vaccine (7,9,10,11,30,31).In the mucosal surface, secretory immunoglobulin A (IgA) plays a major role in protective immunity. We previously demonstrated that intranasal immunization was an effective regimen for inducing mucosal IgA immune responses in the upper respiratory tract (26) and that the nasal mucosal IgA immune responses induced by intranasal immunization were effective for the clearance of bacteria in the nasopharynx.The mucosal immune system is considered as a separate functional entity quite independent of the systemic immune system because the mucosal immune system possesses unique anatomic features and is composed of specialized subsets of lymphoid cells (21,27,34). Despite the recent emphasis on a better understanding of molecular and cellular aspects of the mucosal immune system,...

Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is a major pathogen causing otitis media (OM). One of the outer membrane proteins of NTHi, P6, is a common antigen to all strains and is considered a candidate for mucosal vaccine. We have previously reported that intranasal immunization with P6 and cholera toxin (CT) could induce P6-specific immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies in the middle ear. In the present study, we assessed the effect of intranasal immunization for the protection against NTHi-induced OM. Mice were immunized intranasally with P6 and CT as an adjuvant on days 0, 7, and 14. Control mice were given phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) without antigen. One week after the final immunization, a suspension of live NTHi (10 7 CFU) was injected into the tympanic cavity to induce experimental OM. On days 3 and 7 after bacterial challenge, mice were killed and middle ear effusions (MEEs) were collected. All immunized mice showed elevated titers of P6-specific antibodies in MEEs. The rank order of specific antibody included, from highest to lowest levels, IgG, IgA, and IgM. In addition, immunized mice showed enhanced clearance of NTHi from the middle ear and the number of NTHi in MEEs of immunized mice was reduced by 97% on day 3 and by 92% on day 7 after bacterial challenge relative the number in the MEEs of control mice. The protective effect of intranasal immunization on the incidence of NTHi-induced experimental OM was evident on day 7 after challenge. By day 7, the number of MEEs in immunized mice was 64% less than that in control mice and the incidence of NTHi culture-positive MEEs in immunized mice was 56% less than that in control mice. Less stimulation of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-␣) production in the middle ear was evident on day 3 after challenge. Immunized mice showed lower concentrations of TNF-␣ in MEEs. These results indicate that intranasal immunization affords protection against experimental OM as evidenced by enhanced clearance of NTHi and less stimulation of TNF-␣ production in the middle ear. These findings suggest that a nasal vaccine might be useful for preventing OM.Otitis media (OM) is one of the most common infectious diseases in children, and the peak incidence of this disease occurs in early childhood. Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is a major causative pathogen of OM and is often isolated from middle ear effusions (MEEs) and the nasopharynx (12). Because of the increased incidence of antibioticresistant strains of NTHi in recent years, the development of a vaccine against this bacterium is considered an important goal for public health (14, 15). Recent efforts to develop an effective vaccine candidate against NTHi have focused on P6, an outer membrane protein of NTHi and a common antigen to all strains (32, 33).The middle ear mucosa is capable of producing local and systemic responses after an appropriate antigenic stimulus (30). Local immunity in the middle ear, in conjunction with systemic immunity, plays an important role in OM. Antigenspecific antibodies appear in MEE ...

Although measurement of serum amyloid A (SAA) concentration in client-owned cats has already been shown to be clinically useful, limited data are available on common diseases at primary care hospitals. In this study, we measured the SAA concentration in cats with various diseases and investigated their clinical significance using a primary care hospital as a population. We measured the SAA concentrations in healthy cats (n = 98) and those with various clinical signs (n = 444). The SAA concentrations in healthy cats did not differ significantly by age, breed, sex, and presence/absence of neutering/spaying. The SAA concentrations were significantly higher in the diseased cat group than in the healthy cat group (p < 0.001). We observed significant increases in SAA concentrations in cats with confirmed diagnosis of inflammatory disease such as upper respiratory tract infections (p < 0.001), pneumonia (p < 0.001), pyometra (p = 0.001), and feline infectious peritonitis (p < 0.001), compared with those observed in healthy cats. Conversely, no increase was observed in cardiomyopathy, hyperthyroidism, and diabetes mellitus without systemic inflammation. In univariate analysis, survival at 30 days (p = 0.03) differed significantly between the low and high SAA concentration groups, but not at 180 days. In multivariate analysis, survival at 30 days did not significantly affect SAA concentration. Measurement of SAA concentration is a useful biomarker for detecting the presence or absence of inflammation in diseased cats. However, it may not be useful as a biomarker for determining the prognosis of the disease.

Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is considered a major pathogen underlying middle ear infection. This study characterized the role of Toll-like receptor 4 in the innate immune responses to acute otitis media induced by NTHi in mice. We used C3H/HeJ mice, which have nonfunctional Toll-like receptor 4, and normal wild-type C3H/HeN mice. NTHi were injected into the tympanic bulla, and middle ear effusions and tissues were collected. In C3H/HeN mice, the severity of acute otitis media decreased promptly with a significant reduction in bacterial recovery from middle ear effusions 48 h after injection. In contrast, all C3H/HeJ mice had otitis media at all time points examined, and increasing bacterial counts from middle ear effusions were detected in C3H/HeJ mice 72 h after injection. Expression of intracellular adhesion molecule-1 by the middle ear mucosa paralleled the number of polymorphonuclear cells in the middle ear in both strains. The findings of transmission electron microscopy revealed that phagocytosis and phagosome maturation of polymorphonuclear cells was impaired in C3H/HeJ mice. Our findings indicate that Toll-like receptor 4 plays a part in the early accumulation and functional promotion of polymorphonuclear cells in the middle ear for eradicating NTHi infection.