Natural killer (NK) cell response after vaccination of volunteers with killed influenza vaccine

Abstract

Many experiments have shown convincingly that natural killer (NK) cell activity against viral infections is an important early defence mechanism in mice. Since the NK response occurs soon after infection, often long before clinical signs of disease become manifest, it has been difficult to design studies to monitor accurately NK cell kinetics following infection, without actually administering pathogens to volunteers. There is therefore little data pertaining to the role of NK cells in humans. Nevertheless, a number of studies have shown elevated NK activity in response to herpes simplex and influenza virus infections in humans. Our study was designed to show that NK activity could be provoked in humans by exposure to viral particles without actual live viral infection. The development of NK cell response in the peripheral blood of volunteers shortly after vaccination with killed influenza trivalent vaccine was studied. The results demonstrate that killed virus vaccine induces and augments NK cell activity for relatively long periods. Such data may prove valuable for designing possible modes of augmenting NK activity as a therapeutic tool.

Invariant Vα14 Chain NKT Cells PromotePlasmodium bergheiCircumsporozoite Protein-Specific Gamma Interferon- and Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha-Producing CD8+T Cells in the Liver after Poxvirus Vaccination of Mice

“…There are very few kinetic studies of innate, non-macrophage-related responses after vaccination. For example, the killed influenza vaccine and combined mumps-measles-rubella vaccine enhance NK cell activity for 2 to 30 days (38,41). The present study demonstrates that intradermal prime-boost vaccination with the attenuated, nonreplicating recombinant poxviruses FP9/MVAPbCSP systemically activates the already prevailing IL-4, as well as IFN-␥ production of hepatic, but not splenic, V␣14iNKT cells in BALB/c mice and induces a temporary reduction in frequencies of V␣14iNKT and NK cells.…”

“…It is known from live or killed viruses that they can activate peripheral blood, splenic, and hepatic NK cells (12,31,41). V␣14iNKT cells are a CD4 ϩ or CD4 Ϫ CD8 Ϫ NK cell receptor bearing subpopulation of T cells with restricted T-cell-receptor (TCR) repertoire expression.…”

Depletion of Human NK and CD8 Cells prior to In Vitro H1N1 Flu Vaccine Stimulation Increases the Number of Gamma Interferon-Secreting Cells Compared to the Initial Undepleted Population in an ELISPOT Assay

“…The mechanism by which CD8 and NK cells decrease IFN-␥ secretion after H1N1 stimulation, however, remains to be elucidated. Actually, such cells have usually been involved in early inflammatory response and induction of CTL responses in flu cases (12,14), but a negative role has not been described in cases of secondary stimulation such as we investigated here. In the case of H1N1, CD4 cell regulation could be mediated through direct lysis.…”

Cellular Immune Responses in Children and Adults Receiving Inactivated or Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccines

“…Despite the importance of innate immunity in host defense against viral infection, most previous immunological studies of influenza vaccines have focused on adaptive immunity, i.e., B-cell and T-cell responses, and rarely on innate immunity. In limited studies of the NK cell response to inactivated influenza vaccine, an enhanced NK cell cytotoxicity has been related to vaccination in some studies (38,45), but not others (29).…”