BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Vaccines and Molecular Therapeutics
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1517893
Expression of salivary hepcidin and its inducer, interleukin 6 as well as and type I Interferons are significantly elevatedhigh in infants with poor oral rotavirus vaccine take in South Africa
Provisionally accepted
- Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria, South Africa
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The metabolism of nutritional iron, required by viruses to replicate and proliferate, is regulated by hepcidin, a peptide hormone of 25 amino acids. Overexpression of hepcidin results in iron deficiency anaemia (IDA), while its downregulation can lead to an iron overload. Recently, IDA has been highlighted for its role in the impairment of adaptive immunity and poor vaccine effectiveness. Here, we assessed the possible role of IDA in oral rotavirus (RV) vaccine take among South African infants.Methodology: Paired stool and unstimulated saliva were collected from oral RV vaccinated infants, who attended a routine immunization programme at Oukasie Healthcare clinic, north of Pretoria, South Africa, to decide vaccine shedders (n = 20) and non-shedders (n = 18). IDA was determined by assaying the salivary hepcidin levels using an ELISA kit, while expression of hepcidin, hepcidin inducer IL-6, Interferon I (IFN I) and IFN-γ were determined by qPCR.Results: There were no significant differences in the average hepcidin levels between vaccine shedders and non-shedders (p = 0.83). Hepcidin levels were decreased 0.43-fold a week after vaccination versus pre-vaccination, p = 0.0001. Unlike the concentration, the expression of hepcidin increased 5-5-fold in non-shedders compared to vaccine shedders. Similarly, the expression of IL-6 and IFN I were increased 5.2-and 4.9-fold, respectively, in non-shedders compared to shedders. In contrast, the expression of IFN-γ was increased 3.2-fold in shedders compared to non-shedders. 3 Summary: Collectively, our observations suggest a possible role for IDA in impediment of oral RV vaccine take among South African infants.
Keywords: Iron deficiency anaemia, hepcidin, IL-6, Interferons, Rotavirus vaccine, shedding
Received: 27 Oct 2024; Accepted: 25 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Mabasa, Seheri and Magwira. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Cliff Abdul Magwira, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria, South Africa
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