BCG Vaccination Route and Immune Response

Example 8

Based on the differences in immune responses and protection, several multiple regressions were used to test whether antigen-responsive CD4 or CD8 T cell numbers (BAL) or frequencies (PBMC) after immunization were associated with disease severity (CFU; FIG. 23D). Results indicate that when controlling for all vaccine routes, peak CD4 T cells in the BAL and PBMC, and peak CD8 T cells in the BAL do not have a significant association with total CFU. Of note, in PBMC, higher peak CD8 frequencies are associated with lower total CFU after controlling for route. Overall, these results show that the route of BCG vaccination is the primary determinant of Mtb control with IV being the only route that was significantly protective against TB (FIG. 18F).