Microbes and Infection 2009-01-01

Enhancement of potent antibody and T-cell responses by a single-dose, novel nanoemulsion-formulated pandemic influenza vaccine.

Ming-Hsi Huang, Chiung-Yi Huang, Su-Chen Lin, Jia-Huey Chen, Chien-Chun Ku, Ai-Hsiang Chou, Shih-Jen Liu, Hsin-Wei Chen, Pele Chong, Chih-Hsiang Leng

Index: Microbes Infect. 11(6-7) , 654-60, (2009)

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Abstract

Vaccine shortages are a major obstacle to influenza pandemic preparedness. Increasing vaccine efficiency provides a potentially effective way to overcome this problem. Specifically, using single-dose immunization to induce protective immunity is an attractive approach to emergency/massive vaccination. In this report, we propose a novel nanoemulsion comprised of the bioresorbable polymer, Span 85, and squalene forming a ready-to-use adjuvant, called PELC. After formulation with PELC, inactivated H5N1 virus was intramuscularly administered to mice via a single injection. The data demonstrate that inactivated virus containing 0.5microg hemagglutinin (HA) and formulated with PELC induced more potent antigen-specific antibodies, hemagglutination inhibition, and virus neutralization than non-adjuvanted inactivated virus containing 5microg HA. In addition, T-cell proliferative responses, as well as interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) secretion were significantly enhanced after immunization with PELC-adjuvanted inactivated virus. These results indicate that PELC can be used for effective single-dose immunization and could thus play an important role in influenza pandemic preparedness.