Anticarrier immunity suppresses the antibody response to polysaccharide antigens after intranasal immunization with the polysaccharide-protein conjugate.

We have conjugated cholera toxin (CT) B subunit (CTB) to dextran and studied the effect in mice of previous immunization with CT and CTB on the response to dextran after intranasal immunizations with conjugate. Preexisting immunity to CTB was found to inhibit both the lung mucosal response and serum antibody response to dextran, but this effect could be overcome by using a higher dose of conjugate and delaying the conjugate immunization until the CTB antibody titers had declined. The role of anti-CTB antibodies on the mucosal surface was probably to prevent uptake of the conjugate through a mechanism of immune exclusion. Passively transferred serum antibodies against CTB, on the other hand, suppressed both the serum response and the local antibody response against CTB but did not affect the response to dextran after intranasal immunization with conjugate.