Peer-reviewed article
Respiratory immunization using antibiotic-inactivated Bordetella pertussis confers T cell-mediated protection against nasal infection in mice.
Seyed Davoud Jazayeri, Lisa Borkner, Caroline E Sutton, Kingston H G Mills ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This is a laboratory study of a new vaccine approach for whooping cough (pertussis) tested in mice. The researchers developed a vaccine using antibiotic-inactivated bacteria delivered through the respiratory tract, rather than the standard injected vaccine. The study shows the vaccine protected mice from infection and worked through immune system mechanisms without causing harmful inflammation.
Key points
- Current pertussis vaccines prevent severe disease but do not prevent nasal infection
- The antibiotic-inactivated respiratory vaccine induced protective T cell responses in lung tissue
- Protection depended on CD4 T cells and IL-17 production to recruit infection-fighting cells
- The new vaccine did not trigger harmful systemic inflammation, unlike whole-cell vaccines
- Testing was conducted only in mice, not in human children
Limitations
This is a preclinical laboratory study in mice and cannot directly demonstrate safety or effectiveness in children. The study does not evaluate whether this vaccine approach actually improves child well-being or health outcomes in real-world settings.
Abstract
The Gram-negative bacterium Bordetella pertussis causes whooping cough (pertussis), a severe respiratory disease, especially in young children, which is resurgent despite high vaccine coverage. The current acellular pertussis vaccine prevents severe disease but does not prevent nasal infection with B. pertussis. This parenterally delivered vaccine induces potent circulating antibody responses but limited respiratory tissue-resident memory T cells and IgA responses. Here we developed a vaccine approach based on respiratory delivery of antibiotic-inactivated B. pertussis (AIBP). Ciprofloxacin-treated B. pertussis potently activated antigen-presenting cells to drive T cell responses. AIBP immunization via aerosol or intranasal administration conferred a high level of protection against lung and nasal infection. The AIBP vaccine induced B. pertussis-specific interleukin (IL)-17-producing CD4 tissue-resident memory T cells that recruited neutrophils to the respiratory tract. Protection was abrogated by depletion of CD4 T cells or neutralization of IL-17 in mice. Unlike a parenterally delivered whole-cell pertussis vaccine, which induced high levels of serum IL-1β, IL-6, tumour necrosis factor and C-reactive protein, aerosol immunization with the AIBP vaccine did not promote systemic pro-inflammatory responses. We present preclinical evidence of a safe and effective respiratory-delivered vaccine platform for inducing T cell-mediated sterilizing immunity against a respiratory pathogen.