We need human blood to understand the immune response to infection and to test promising new vaccines against infectious diseases in the laboratory. One test is called the Serum Bactericidal Assay (or SBA), which is measure of how effective antibodies are at killing certain bacteria and can be an important measure of how effective a new vaccine may be. The samples would be used in the laboratory analysis of clinical trials of vaccines used in adults and children, and some samples in pre-clinical (animal) experiments testing new vaccines before they enter human-stage testing. Most people have some form of protection against most bacteria already, so not everyone is a suitable blood donor for this laboratory test. We therefore start by taking a small blood sample and test this one before asking for more blood if we found yours suitable for the work we do.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
101
Centre for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine (CCVTM)
Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
To identify healthy adult volunteers whose blood can be used in complement dependent assays
The intrinsic Serum Bactericidal Assay (SBA) of defined infectious bacterial organisms as either a; 1. complement source with no "intrinsic killing" of defined infectious bacterial organisms 2. complement source with no killing of defined infectious bacterial organisms following IgG depletion 3. complement source with "intrinsic killing" of defined infectious bacterial organisms, to act as a positive control
Time frame: At first visit
Further exploratory immunology for the development of immunological assays against infectious diseases
To analyse the following in healthy adults; * Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody concentration against defined target meningococcal, typhoid and shigella strain antigens * Complement factor H concentration * The relationship between the concentrations of specific anti-meningococcal, anti-typhoid and anti-shigella antibodies and factor H to the ability to mediate intrinsic killing in the SBA assay * Any further exploratory immunology to develop laboratory assays measuring the immune responses to vaccination
Time frame: At first visit
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