Appearance of specific antibody-bearing cells in human bronchial mucosa after local immunization with bacterial vaccine

Abstract

The immune response to local in vivo inhalation of a lysed bacteria vaccine was assessed in surgical specimens of main-stem bronchi from patients who had undergone pneumectomy for cancer. The patient population included 22 subjects; 11 of these recieved the aerosol vaccine twice a day for 10 days prior to surgery, while the remaining 11 patients were used as controls and were not immunized. The submucous glands of immunized subjects showed significantly more cells than did those of the controls, i.e., 62 ± 8 versus 37 ± 7, respectively (P < 0.05). The following five antigens were chosed for study by fluorescence assay: Streptocococcus pneumoniae types II and III, Haemophillus influenzae, Streptococcus sp. strain D19, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. An immunization-dependent correlation was found between immunoglobulin A, immunoglobulin A-bearing cells, and specific antibody-bearing cells on the one hand and three of the five antigens (S. pneumoniae types II and III and Streptococcus sp. strain D19) on the other hand. This is the first time that a relationship has been established between bacterial immunization of the lower respiratory tract and local immunoglobulin production in humans.