BHV-1 DNA vaccination: effect of the adjuvant RN-205 on the modulation of the immune response in mice

ZAMORANO; TABOGA; DOMINGUEZ; ROMERA; PUNTEL; TAMI; MONGINI; WALDNER; PALMA; SADIR

VACCINE

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

Año: 2002 p. 2656 - 2664

0264-410X

It is well documented that adjuvants improve the immune response generated by traditional viral vaccines, but less is known aboutthe effects of adjuvants on the immune response elicited by DNA vaccines. In this study, we have investigated the use of RN-205(immunomodulator containing a membrane rich in lipopolysaccharide from gram-negative bacteria) as an adjuvant and analyzed thehumoral and cellular specific immune responses elicited by DNA vaccines based on the bovine herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1) glycoprotein D(gD). The comparison of the antibody response induced in mice by amixture of the three different versions ofDNAgD(membrane-anchored,secreted and cytosolic) formulated with or without RN-205 showed that the immunomodulator did not affect the total specific humoralresponse. The cellular immune response induced in mice immunized with vaccines plus RN-205 was higher than that obtained in micevaccinated without RN-205, not only in the indexes of proliferation tests but in the number of IL-4 and IFN secreting cells. When totalspleen cells were marked with specific monoclonal antibodies against surface markers, a significant increase in the macrophage populationof all the groups receiving RN-205 was observed. CD8 and CD4 positive cells were also increased but to a lesser extent. Our results indicatethat the incorporation of RN-205 into DNA vaccines induces an increase of the cellular specific immune response in mice. © 2002 ElsevierScience Ltd. All rights reserved.