Dengue virus neutralizing antibody levels associated with protection from infection in Thai cluster studies

Background: Long-term homologous and temporary heterologous protection from dengue virus (DENV) infection may be mediated by neutralizing antibodies. However, neutralizing antibody titers (NTs) have not been clearly associated with protection from infection. Methodology/Principal Findings: Data from two geographic cluster studies conducted in Kamphaeng Phet, Thailand were used for this analysis. In the first study (2004–2007), cluster investigations of 100-meter radius were triggered by DENVinfected index cases from a concurrent prospective cohort. Subjects between 6 months and 15 years old were evaluated for DENV infection at days 0 and 15 by DENV PCR and IgM ELISA. In the second study (2009–2012), clusters of 200-meter radius were triggered by DENV-infected index cases admitted to the provincial hospital. Subjects of any age $6 months were evaluated for DENV infection at days 0 and 14. In both studies, subjects who were DENV PCR positive at day 14/15 were considered to have been ‘‘susceptible’’ on day 0. Comparison subjects from houses in which someone had documented DENV infection, but the subject remained DENV negative at days 0 and 14/15, were considered ‘‘non-susceptible. ’’ Day 0 samples were presumed to be from just before virus exposure, and underwent plaque reduction neutralization testing (PRNT). Seventeen ‘‘susceptible’’ (six DENV-1, five DENV-2, and six DENV-4), and 32 ‘‘non-susceptible’’ (13 exposed to DENV1, 10 DENV-2, and 9 DENV-4) subjects were evaluated. Comparing subjects exposed to the same serotype, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves identified homotypic PRNT titers of 11, 323 and 16 for DENV-1, -2 and -4, respectively, to differentiate ‘‘susceptible’’ from ‘‘non-susceptible’’ subjects. Conclusions/Significance: PRNT titers were associated with protection from infection by DENV-1, -2 and -4. Protective NTs appeared to be serotype-dependent and may be higher for DENV-2 than other serotypes. These findings are relevant for both dengue epidemiology studies and vaccine development efforts. Citation: Buddhari D, Aldstadt J, Endy TP, Srikiatkhachorn A, Thaisomboonsuk B, et al. (2014) Dengue Virus Neutralizing Antibody Levels Associated with Protection from Infection in Thai Cluster Studies. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 8(10): e3230. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd. 0003230 Editor: Scott B. Halstead, Pediatric Dengue Vaccine Initiative, United States of America Received May 29, 2014; Accepted August 29, 2014; Published October 16, 2014 This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. Data Availability: The authors confirm that all data underlying the findings are fully available without restriction. All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files. Funding: This research was funded, in part, by the National Institutes of Health (grants P01 AI34533 and R01 GM083224); the U.S. Military Infectious Diseases Research Program (grant S0016-04-AF); The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Global Health Program (grant OPP52250). The funding source had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation, manuscript writing, or manuscript submission for publication. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. * Email: daruneet@afrims.org