Rotavirus

Rotaviruses (RV) are ubiquitous highly infectious double-stranded RNA viruses of importance in public health because of the severe acute gastroenteritis (GE) they cause in young children and many other animal species. They are very well adapted to their host, causing frequent symptomatic and asymptomatic reinfections. Antibodies are the major component of the immune system that protects infants against RV reinfection. The relationship between the virus and the B cells (Bc) that produce these antibodies is complex and incompletely understood (1). In this review, the following basic aspects of RV-specific Bc (RV-Bc) will be addressed: (i) ontogeny; (ii) use of immunoglobulin (Ig) genes; (iii) differential distribution (compartmentalization) in the intestinal and systemic immune systems; (iv) specificity of RV-Ig produced and the mechanisms by which it mediates protection; and finally, (v) practical applications for the use of RV-Ig, including RV-Ig as a prophylactic or therapeutic agent and as a correlate of protection. The immune response generated against RV vaccines has been recently reviewed (2, 3) and will only be briefly discussed. The focus of this review is antibodies induced by natural RV infection in humans, but reference to studies of the murine and porcine animal models of RV infection will be made when necessary.