Immune response in suckling mice fed PBMCs harvested from adult mice and pulsed with Prevnar13: a pilot study

Abstract

Five-day-old mouse pups were fed either Prevnar 13 alone or peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from adult donors and pulsed _ex vivo_ with Prevnar-13. Mice vaccinated with Prevnar-13 or with vaccine-pulsed PBMCs displayed a positive serum IgM response greater than that of mice treated with mock-pulsed PBMCs, though the response of Prevnar-13-treated vs. Prevnar 13-pulsed PMBC-treated groups was not significantly different. However, neither group was protected against lethal infectious challenge. We conclude that it is possible to elicit a neonatal immunological response after vaccine or vaccine-pulsed PBMCs administered via the oral route, but a single dose is insufficient to protect against subsequent infection. Further studies can confirm whether a booster dose may improve protective efficacy and may reveal a difference between vaccine-pulsed PBMC treatment and vaccine alone that is not apparent after a single dose.