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

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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.