Race and sex-based differences in cytokine immune responses to smallpox vaccine in healthy individuals.

Abstract

We assessed the effects of sex, race and ethnicity on smallpox vaccine-induced immune responses in 1071 armed forces members after primary Dryvax(®) smallpox vaccination, including 790 males and 281 females; 580 Caucasians, 217 African-Americans, and 217 Hispanics. Analysis of vaccinia-specific cytokine responses revealed that Caucasians had higher total IFNγ ELISPOT responses (median 57 spot-forming units/SFUs per 200,000 cells, p=0.01) and CD8(+)IFNγ ELISPOT responses (12 SFUs, p<0.001) than African-Americans (51 and 4 SFUs, respectively) and Hispanics (47 and 8 SFUs, respectively). Similarly, Caucasians secreted higher levels of vaccinia-specific IL-2 (p=0.003) and IFNα (p<0.001) compared to other racial/ethnic groups. Males had higher total IFNγ ELISPOT responses (median 55 SFUs) compared to females (41 SFUs, p<0.001). We observed statistically significant sex-related differences in the secretion of IL-2 (p<0.001), IL-1β (p<0.001) and IL-10 (p=0.017). These data suggest that vaccinia-specific cytokine responses following primary smallpox vaccination are significantly influenced by race and sex of vaccinees.

• Authors: Iana H Haralambieva, Inna G Ovsyannikova, Richard B Kennedy, Beth R Larrabee, V Shane Pankratz, Gregory A Poland
• Journal: Human immunology (Hum Immunol) Vol. 74 Issue 10 Pg. 1263-6 (Oct 2013) ISSN: 1879-1166 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 23806267 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2013 American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Cytokines
• Smallpox Vaccine

Topics

• Adult
• Cytokines (biosynthesis, blood)
• Ethnicity
• Female
• Humans
• Male
• Military Personnel
• Sex Factors
• Smallpox Vaccine (immunology)
• Young Adult