Experimental infection of adultswith recombinantwild-type human metapneumovirus

Kawsar R. Talaat, Ruth A. Karron, Bhagvanji Thumar, Bridget A. McMahon, Alexander C. Schmidt, Peter L. Collins, Ursula J. Buchholz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background. Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) causes lower respiratory tract infections in young children. rHMPV-SHs is a recombinant HMPV (rHMPV) based on a biologically derived wild-type HMPV strain. We characterized its infectivity and immunogenicity in healthy adults to determine whether it would be suitable for use as the parent virus for the development of live attenuated rHMPV vaccines. Methods. Twenty-one healthy adults were inoculated intranasally with 106 plaque-forming units of rHMPVSHs. Respiratory symptoms and shedding of challenge virus were assessed. Neutralizing antibody responses, serum immunoglobulin G and A, and nasal wash specimen immunoglobulin A antibody responses to the HMPV F protein were also measured. Induction of nasal cytokines was assessed with electrochemiluminescence assays. Results. Nine subjects (43%) were infected with challenge virus as determined by virus detection and/or ≥4-fold rise in serum antibody titers. Peak viral shedding occurred on days 7-9 after infection. Four weeks after inoculation, 35% of subjects had any antibody response. Six of 9 infected subjects had respiratory symptoms, and 3 had headache after inoculation. Cytokine patterns differed considerably between subjects with similar illness severity and viral shedding. Conclusions. The rHMPV-SHs virus is infectious and is a suitable parent virus for development of live-attenuated HMPV vaccine candidates. Clinical Trials Registration. NCT01109329.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1669-1678
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Infectious Diseases
Volume208
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 15 2013

Keywords

  • Challenge
  • HMPV
  • Human metapneumovirus

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Immunology and Allergy
  • Infectious Diseases

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Experimental infection of adultswith recombinantwild-type human metapneumovirus'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this