With regard to the kinetics of anti-HBs titers, there was a total of 17 cases (13.4%) with unsustained anti-HBs response between doses of HB vaccines in our study. Among them, 15 cases had decreased

anti-HBs titer at 6 months, just before the third EPZ-6438 purchase dose of HB vaccine. Another two cases had a decrease in anti-HBs titer at 7 months, 1 month after the third dose of HB vaccine. In previous studies, females had a stronger immunogenic response to HB vaccine with higher anti-HBs seropositivity and a reduced chance for HB infection.20-22 However, no significant gender difference for HB vaccination response was found in our study or in a recent study in central Taiwan.10 We also did not detect significant differences in anti-HBs titers during four follow-up periods with respect to age, family history of HB virus carriage, blood type, or BMI (see Table 1). However, it is interesting to note that out of eight participants with blood type AB none had an early booster response. Although the sample size was small, further studies to explore the relationship between blood type and booster response may be warranted. There remain persistent arguments about the role of T-cell immune memory associated with HB vaccines. We have estimated that 10% to 26.5% of fully vaccinated adolescents may have lost their HB vaccine-conferred booster response using an enzyme-linked immunospot

assay to estimate memory T-cell immune response, together with HBsAg-specific IFN-γ- or IL-5-secreting peripheral blood mononuclear cells assays.7 In Thailand, 87 high-risk individuals who had received a complete course of recombinant HB vaccine 18-20 years earlier were investigated CDK inhibitor for their HB virus immune memory. Overall, 58.6% of participants were seropositive for humoral immunity and 50.6% were positive using the enzyme-linked immunospot assay for cellular immunity. It was concluded that a second booster dose should be considered, especially in high-risk groups.23 In the present study, only 20.5% of the previously vaccinated subjects had an early booster response; they may be potentially vulnerable to HB virus infection. A difference between immune responses to plasma-derived MCE公司 vaccines and recombinant

vaccines has been suggested before. Floreani et al.24 found a faster decay rate of anti-HBs with recombinant vaccines. Kao et al.10 studied students at a junior middle school of a rural township in central-southern Taiwan. After a booster dose the percentage of anamnestic responses increased with a trend toward the younger cohort born after 1992 (P < 0.001). The recombinant vaccine showed fast disappearance rates (62.7%) of the surface antibody against HB 12-15 years after vaccination, but provided better anamnestic responses after a booster dose. However, the cohort effects of these differences could not be excluded. In our study all the study subjects received the same plasma-derived HB vaccines and completed HB vaccination during their infancy.