PERSISTENCE OF IMMUNE RESPONSE TO VACCINIA IN IMMUNOCOMPETENT AND HIV+ ADULTS

该子项目是利用NIH/NCRR资助的中心赠款提供的资源的许多研究子项目之一。子项目和研究者（PI）可能从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金，因此可以在其他CRISP条目中表示。所列机构为中心，不一定是研究者所在机构。这是一项研究免疫活性和HIV阳性成人对牛痘的免疫应答持续性的方案。这项工作的基础是，以前的研究没有足够的广泛性或重点，以提供在这一重要领域的统计重要信息。研究人员将检验这一假设，即天花疫苗接种的细胞免疫反应是持久的，在免疫功能正常的人中可能持续数十年。第二个假设是，免疫缺陷，如艾滋病毒感染，将减少免疫反应的程度和持续时间。恐怖主义威胁的出现使天花疫苗继续为老年人提供保护的问题变得更加重要，特别是对那些今后不适合重新接种疫苗的艾滋病毒感染者。这个问题的答案可能会改变恐怖袭击的准备方式。将在1）既往接种疫苗的健康受试者、2）年龄匹配的既往接种疫苗的HIV阳性受试者和3）未接种疫苗的健康受试者中评估牛痘记忆淋巴细胞应答的持续性。 将测量每例受试者的体液和细胞介导的免疫应答。假设应答下降与接种后的时间呈线性关系，研究者将尝试计算衰减率。该项目得到了GCRC的CReFF支持，Abigail Freedman博士作为接受者，William Borkowsky博士作为导师，已经在GCRC上启动。结果尚未公布。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. This is a protocol to study the persistence of the immune response to vaccinia in immunocompetent and HIV-positive adults. This work builds on the observation that previous studies have not been sufficiently extensive or focused to provide statistically significant information in this important area. The investigators will test the hypothesis that cellular immune responses to smallpox vaccination are long lasting and may persist for many decades in immunocompetent people. The second hypothesis is that immunodeficiency, such as HIV infection, will diminish the extent and duration of immune response. The emergence of a terrorist threat has elevated the significance of the question of the continued protection offered by smallpox vaccination given to older members of the public, and particularly to HIV-infected people who would not be candidates for re-vaccination in the future. An answer to this question might change the way a terrorist attack would be prepared for. Persistence of vaccinia memory lymphocyte responses will be assessed in 1) healthy previously vaccinated subjects, 2) age-matched previously vaccinated subjects who are HIV positive, and 3) healthy unvaccinated individuals. Humoral and cell-mediated immune responses will be measured for each subject. It will be assumed that the drop-off of response will be linear with time since vaccination, and the investigators will attempt to compute the rate of decay. This project, which has CReFF support from the GCRC, with Dr. Abigail Freedman as the recipient and Dr. William Borkowsky as mentor, has been initiated on the GCRC. Results are not yet available.