Harris, Aaron M.Bhuiyan, M. SaruarChowdhury, FahimaKhan, Ashraful I.Hossain, AzimKendall, Emily A.Rahman, AtiqurLaRocque, Regina C.Wrammert, JensRyan, Edward T.Qadri, FirdausiCalderwood, Stephen B.Harris, Jason B.2019-10-122009Harris, A. M., M. S. Bhuiyan, F. Chowdhury, A. I. Khan, A. Hossain, E. A. Kendall, A. Rahman, et al. 2009. “Antigen-Specific Memory B-Cell Responses to Vibrio Cholerae O1 Infection in Bangladesh.” Infection and Immunity77 (9): 3850–56. doi:10.1128/IAI.00369-09.0019-95671070-63131098-5522http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:41542691Cholera, caused by Vibrio cholerae, is a noninvasive dehydrating enteric disease with a high mortality rate if untreated. Infection with V. cholerae elicits long-term protection against subsequent disease in countries where the disease is endemic. Although the mechanism of this protective immunity is unknown, it has been hypothesized that a protective mucosal response to V. cholerae infection may be mediated by anamnestic responses of memory B cells in the gut-associated lymphoid tissue. To characterize memory B-cell responses to cholera, we enrolled a cohort of 39 hospitalized patients with culture-confirmed cholera and evaluated their immunologic responses at frequent intervals over the subsequent 1 year. Memory B cells to cholera antigens, including lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and the protein antigens cholera toxin B subunit (CTB) and toxin-coregulated pilus major subunit A ( TcpA) were enumerated using a method of polyclonal stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells followed by a standard enzyme-linked immunospot procedure. All patients demonstrated CTB, TcpA, and LPS-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgA memory responses by day 90. In addition, these memory B-cell responses persisted up to 1 year, substantially longer than other traditional immunologic markers of infection with V. cholerae. While the magnitude of the LPS-specific IgG memory B-cell response waned at 1 year, CTB- and TcpA-specific IgG memory B cells remained significantly elevated at 1 year after infection, suggesting that T-cell help may result in a more durable memory B-cell response to V. cholerae protein antigens. Such memory B cells could mediate anamnestic responses on reexposure to V. cholerae.en-USJournal Article2019-10-1210.1128/IAI.00369-09