Serotype-specific neutralizing activity and clinical outcomes associated with intravenous immunoglobulin in pediatric HAdV-3 and HAdV-7 infections
摘要
Human adenovirus (HAdV) is an important cause of pediatric acute respiratory infection and severe pneumonia, with HAdV-3 and HAdV-7 being predominant respiratory serotypes. Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is empirically used in severe HAdV infection, but its serotype-specific activity remains unclear. In this retrospective clinical and in vitro study, 365 children with PCR-positive HAdV infection were screened, and 313 children with HAdV-3 or HAdV-7 detection were characterized, including 174 HAdV-3 and 139 HAdV-7 cases. HAdV-7 was associated with a higher proportion of severe disease than HAdV-3 (37.41% vs. 19.54%). The core clinical analysis focused on patients stratified by serotype and IVIG administration, including 82 IVIG-treated patients: 27 with HAdV-3 and 55 with HAdV-7. Among IVIG-treated patients, HAdV-3 cases showed shorter times to fever normalization and respiratory symptom resolution than HAdV-7 cases, although these observations should be interpreted cautiously. In vitro, commercial IVIG products showed stronger neutralizing activity against HAdV-3 than HAdV-7, with peak titers of > 1:1024 versus 1:256. IVIG also provided greater improvement in cell viability in HAdV-3-infected cells than in HAdV-7-infected cells (12.02% vs. 8.87%), more strongly reduced viral attachment (75.75% vs. 58.43%), and markedly inhibited HAdV-3 internalization. These findings suggest serotype-specific differences in IVIG antiviral activity and support prospective evaluation of serotype-guided IVIG strategies.