NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In infant rats, transcutaneous immunization with a glycoconjugate vaccine can produce protective antibody responses against Haemophilus influenza type B and diphtheria, according to a study in the September 15th issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases
Dr. Fatme Mawas of the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, and colleagues there and elsewhere in Europe treated infant rats with transcutaneous administration of H. influenza type B cross-reacting material glycoconjugate vaccine, given together with cholera toxin or mutants of heat-labile Escherichia coli enterotoxin as adjuvants.
Transcutaneous immunization, the authors explain, “is a simple, noninvasive immunization procedure that targets the antigen-presenting cells residency in the epidermis.” They applied the antigen solution directly onto the animals’ bare skin.
The conjugate vaccine “elicited high antibody responses to the capsular polysaccharide of H. influenza type B and to diphtheria toxin,” according to the article.
Furthermore, the investigators report, passive transfer of diluted serum from immunized animals “completely protected infant rats from [H. influenza type B] bacteremia” and elicited strong neutralizing activity against diphtheria toxin.
“Several challenges like ahead in terms of defining the stability and release kinetics of glycoconjugate vaccines incorporated into a patch and of defining the optimum immunogenic dose in humans,” the authors admit.
Nevertheless, they conclude, their results suggest “that this immunization strategy holds a lot of promise for future pediatric use.”
Source: J Infect Dis 2004;190:1177-1182. [ Google search on this article ]
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