Influence of elemental impurities in aluminum hydroxide adjuvant on the stability of inactivated Japanese Encephalitis vaccine, IXIARO®.

Aluminum hydroxide is a critical raw material in the production of many vaccines. It is used as an adjuvant in the formulation of the final bulk vaccine, and for this it must meet the specifications of the European Pharmacopeia Monograph. We investigated whether vaccine stability was affected by the presence of trace amounts of elemental impurities in commercially available aluminum hydroxide. The content of residual elemental impurities in commercially available aluminum hydroxide was determined by selective and sensitive inductively coupled-plasma mass spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. We found significant differences between different suppliers, but also between different lots from the same supplier. Inactivated Japanese encephalitis vaccine, IXIARO(®), was used to study the effect of residual metals in aluminum hydroxide on antigen stability. We propose that antigen degradation occurred via a pathway involving the metal-catalyzed, auto-oxidation of a process-related impurity (sulfite). Thus, sulfite auto-oxidation resulted in antigen degradation when residual Cu was present at elevated concentrations in aluminum hydroxide.

Effect of adjuvants on the humoral immune response to congopain in mice and cattle.

BACKGROUND: We investigated several adjuvants for their effects on the humoral immune response in both mice and cattle using the central domain of congopain (C2), the major cysteine protease of Trypanosoma congolense, as a model for developing a vaccine against animal trypanosomosis. The magnitude and sustainability of the immune response against C2 and the occurrence of a booster effect of infection, an indirect measure of the presence of memory cells, were determined by ELISA, while spectrofluorometry was used to determine and measure the presence of enzyme-inhibiting antibodies. RESULTS: Mice immunized with recombinant C2 in TiterMax™, Adjuphos™, purified saponin Quil A™ or Gerbu™ showed the best response according to the evaluation criteria and the latter three were chosen for the cattle vaccination study. The cattle were challenged with T. congolense four and a half months after the last booster. Cattle immunized with recombinant C2 in purified saponin Quil A™ showed the best antibody response according to the measured parameters. CONCLUSIONS: We identified purified saponin Quil A™ as a good adjuvant for immunizations with C2. The results from this study will be useful in future attempts to develop an effective anti-disease vaccine against African trypanosomosis.

Progress in understanding adjuvant immunotoxicity mechanisms.

Over the last twenty years research has provided an important insight into the mechanisms responsible for the immunotoxicity of both local and systemic adverse reactions following the use of immunostimulating drugs and adjuvants. In this article we provide an update of the present knowledge relating to the various parameters and reactants of the immune system at the cellular as well as molecular level that are believed to play a key role in reactogenicity. We discuss evidence obtained from observations in vitro, in vivo in animal models and from clinical applications, including adjuvants used in large scale vaccination today. The data discussed are mainly taken from animal models following hyperstimulation of the immune system; either by the use of very powerful adjuvants, like Freund's that are too toxic for use in practical vaccination, by deliberate high dose application of adjuvants or by the in vivo application of cytokines. Although such hyperstimulating regimens are unlikely to find their way into practical vaccination of humans, this information is of great value as it may facilitate the understanding of the toxicity mechanisms, aid the design of standardised models for the assessment of adjuvant safety and the possible application of new adjuvants in vaccines for humans.

Aluminum adjuvants: preparation, application, dosage, and formulation with antigen.

Important new knowledge about the effect of aluminum adjuvants on the immune response in terms of their impact on cytokine profiles, uptake by antigen-presenting cells (APC), and surface marker expression has been published in recent years. However, although the knowledge about these adjuvants is thus more comprehensive now than ever before, the user is often still confined to a more empirical approach when confronted with practical issues when it comes to the handling and use of these adjuvants. In this chapter we have given focus to the user's perspective, discussing practicalities like dosage, temperature stability, relevant monographs, and preparation with antigen.

Aluminium compounds for use in vaccines.

Aluminium adjuvants are the most widely used adjuvants in both human and veterinary vaccines. These adjuvants have been used in practical vaccination for more than 60 years and are generally recognized as safe and as stimulators of Th2 immunity. The present review gives a short introduction to the pioneering research at the start of the use of aluminium compounds as adjuvants, including references on the chemistry of these compounds. Analytical methods for identifying the most commonly used aluminium compounds, such as boehmite and aluminium hydroxyphosphate, are mentioned. Emphasis is placed on the important factors for antigen adsorption and on the latest work using gene-deficient mice in the research of the mechanism of aluminium adjuvants in terms of cytokine and T-cell subset stimulation. Key references on the ability of aluminium adjuvants to stimulate IgE and also in vivo clearing of aluminium adjuvants are discussed. Furthermore, the review addresses the issue of local reactions in the context of injection route and local tissue disturbance. Possible new applications of aluminium adjuvants in, for example, combined aluminium-adsorbed protein and DNA oligonucleotide vaccines as well as the possible use of aluminium adjuvants in combination with IL-12 to stimulate Th1-type immune responses are mentioned.

Aluminium adjuvants--in retrospect and prospect.

Aluminium compounds have been used as adjuvants in practical vaccination for more than 60 years to induce an early, an efficient and a long lasting protective immunity and are at present the most widely used adjuvants in both veterinary and human vaccines. Although the last two decades of systematic research into the nature of these adjuvants has contributed significantly to understanding their nature and their limitations as Th2 stimulators the more detailed mode of action of these adjuvants is still not completely understood. We have a comprehensive record of their behaviour and performance in practical vaccination, but an empirical approach to optimising their use in new vaccine formulations is still to some extent a necessity. The aim of the present review is to put the recent findings into a broader perspective to facilitate the application of these adjuvants in general and experimental vaccinology.

Codelivery of a DNA vaccine and a protein vaccine with aluminum phosphate stimulates a potent and multivalent immune response.

The study explores the possibility of efficiently codelivering DNA vaccines and protein-based vaccines by formulation with aluminum phosphate (AlPO4). When mixed with aluminum adjuvants, plasmid DNA bound tightly onto aluminum hydroxide [Al(OH)3] but not to AlPO4. Different doses of DNA vaccines formulated with AlPO4 [but not Al(OH)3] induced enhanced humoral responses and supported priming of MHC class I restricted cellular immunity. Different proteins mixed with the plasmid DNA vaccine in the AlPO4 formulation did not impair its immunogenicity. Coinjection of two different vaccine-relevant antigens in the same AlPO4 formulation, one as a DNA vaccine and the other as a recombinant protein, elicited polyvalent, humoral, and cellular immune responses to all antigens delivered. The isotype profiles of the induced humoral responses and the cytokine profiles of the specifically primed T cell responses indicated that the combined vaccines supported copriming of Th1- and Th2-biased as well as balanced responses. These findings indicate that the AlPO4 adjuvant, a widely accepted adjuvant in human vaccination practice, can be used to combine protein- and DNA-based vaccination to prime an enhanced and balanced specific immunity.