Digital Gaming for Improving the Functioning of People With Traumatic Brain Injury: Protocol of a Feasibility Study

The specific outcomes such as primary outcome measures were selected because they are widely used psychological tests and thought to be sensitive to changes in the cognitive functions related to TBI.</p

Salivary antibodies induced by the seven-valent PncOMPC conjugate vaccine in the Finnish Otitis Media Vaccine Trial

BACKGROUND: Mucosal antibodies have been suggested to have a role in defence against pneumococcal infections. We investigated here the ability of a seven-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, PncOMPC, to induce mucosal immune response. METHODS: Healthy Finnish children (n = 111), a subcohort of the Finnish Otitis Media Vaccine Trial, were recruited and 56 of them were immunised with the PncOMPC at the age of 2, 4, and 6 months. At 12 months of age, 49 of them received the PncOMPC and 7 were vaccinated with the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PncPS) as a booster. The control group of 55 children received a hepatitis B vaccine at the same ages. Salivary anti-Pnc IgG, IgA, IgA1, and IgA2 antibodies to serotypes 6B, 14, 19F, and 23F were measured in both groups at the age of 7 and 13 months. RESULTS: Salivary anti-Pnc IgG and IgA were detected more often in the PncOMPC than in the control group. However, the difference between groups was significant only for 19F and 23F IgA concentrations at the age of 7 months. At the age of 13 months, antibody concentrations did not differ between PncOMPC and control groups. The rises in IgA concentrations between 7 and 13 months of age were mainly of subclass IgA1. Further, there is a clear trend that PncPS booster induces higher salivary anti-Pnc PS antibody concentrations than the PncOMPC. CONCLUSION: We found that PncOMPC can induce a mucosal IgA response. However, the actual impact of mucosal antibodies in protection against pneumococcal infections is not clear

Primary and Booster Mucosal Immune Responses to Meningococcal Group A and C Conjugate and Polysaccharide Vaccines Administered to University Students in the United Kingdom

Meningococcal group A+C capsular polysaccharide (PS) conjugate vaccines may prime for serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) memory responses to meningococcal capsular PS. It is not known whether these vaccines induce immunological memory at the mucosal level, which may be important in reducing nasopharyngeal carriage. Mucosal immune responses to meningococcal conjugate and PS vaccines in young adults were investigated. Healthy university students were randomized to receive either a groups A+C meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MACconj, n = 100) or a group A+C meningococcal PS vaccine (MACPS, n = 95). One year after the primary immunization, both groups were randomized again to receive a MACconj or a MACPS booster vaccination. Saliva samples were collected before and 1 month after the primary and booster vaccinations. Anti-meningococcal A (MenA) and C (MenC) PS IgA and IgG antibody levels were measured by a standard enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. After the primary vaccination, salivary MenA and MenC IgG and MenA IgA concentrations were significantly increased after immunization with both MACconj and MACPS vaccines, but the salivary Men C IgA level was increased only after MACPS vaccine (P < 0.01). IgA responses to both serogroups were greater for MACPS than MACconj vaccine (P < 0.05), whereas no significant differences were seen for IgG responses. MenA IgG titers were higher after the MACPS booster in MACconj-primed subjects than after the MACPS primary vaccination, suggesting the presence of IgG memory. Antibody responses to a dose of either MACPS or MACconj were not significantly reduced in those previously given MACPS compared to the primary responses to those vaccines. Meningococcal A+C conjugate and PS vaccines induce significant mucosal responses in young adults. MACconj priming may induce IgG memory at the mucosal level, which is likely to be a reflection of an anamnestic serum IgG response. No evidence of mucosal hyporesponsiveness was observed after MACPS priming in this study