Patterns of antibody response during natural hRSV infection: insights for the development of new antibody-based therapies

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV) is the main cause of acute lower respiratory tract infection in susceptible population worldwide, such as young children and the elderly. Although hRSV is a major public health burden, there are no licensed vaccines and the only available therapy is palivizumab. During life, reinfections with hRSV are common, suggesting that the virus can impair the development of an efficient host immune response. This feature has hindered the development of efficient therapies.

Areas covered: This article focuses on research about the natural development of antibodies in humans after the exposure to hRSV. The difficulties of developing anti-hRSV therapies based on monoclonal antibodies have been recently associated to the relationship between the disease outcome and the pattern of antibody response.

Expert opinion: Development of monoclonal antibodies is a potentially successful approach to prevent the population from suffering severe respiratory diseases caused by hRSV infection, for which there are no available vaccines. Although the use of palivizumab is safe, its effectiveness is controversial. Recent data have prompted research to develop therapies targeting alternative viral antigens, rather than focusing only on the F protein, as well as the development of antibodies with a cell-mediated function.

KEYWORDS:

• Antibodies against hRSV
• monoclonal antibodies
• viral neutralization
• humoral immune response in hRSV

Declaration of interest

The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial relationships or otherwise to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

The authors are supported by grants: Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (FONDECYT) no 1150862 and 1170964, Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT)/FONDECYT POSTDOCTORADO no 3160248 and Programa Formación de Capital Humano Avanzado – Beca de Doctorado en Chile 21140178 and 21170620, Millennium Institute on Immunology and Immunotherapy (P09/016-F), COPEC-UC Grant ‘Concurso Nacional de Proyectos de I+D aplicada en el ámbito de los Recursos Naturales’ nº2016.R.772, and INNOVA-CORFO grant no 13CTI21526-P4 and 13CTI21526-P5.