Malaria

Study data from J.E. Eyles and co-authors update knowledge of plague vaccines

"Concomitant administration of antibody and vaccine by different routes was evaluated as a means of providing both rapid and long-term protection against plague. BALB/c mice were treated intraperitoneally with monoclonal antibodies, with specificities for Yersinia pestis LcrV and F1 antigens. A cohort of these mice was simultaneously vaccinated with rF1 and rLcrV by the intramuscular route. Antibody co-administration with vaccine reduced the level of vaccine mediated protection afforded against a high level Y. pestis challenge. Conversely, antibody-mediated protection was unaffected by vaccine co-administration and lasted for at least 8 weeks post administration. We also evaluated the effect of administering vaccine intradermally and antibody intratracheally and observed that, irrespective of administration route, concomitant administration of antibody reduced the effectiveness of vaccine mediated immunity. The results of passive transfer experiments supported the thesis that the development of protective antibody responses following vaccination is impaired by the presence of circulating monoclonal antibodies with specificities for important B-cell epitopes in the vaccine. We also noted that intradermal injection of LcrV antigen and cholera toxin adjuvant afforded good levels of protection against systemic and aerosol challenge with Y. pestis: intradermal injection might therefore be considered as a potential minimally invasive method of plague vaccine administration," wrote J.E. Eyles and colleagues, .

The researchers concluded: "These data have implications for the design of therapeutic strategies against plague infection."

Eyles and colleagues published their study in Vaccine (Concomitant administration of Yersinia pestis specific monoclonal antibodies with plague vaccine has a detrimental effect on vaccine mediated immunity. Vaccine, 2007;25(42):7301-6).

For additional information, contact J.E. Eyles, Dstl, Biomedical Sciences Department, Porton Down, Wiltshire SP4 0JQ, UK.

The publisher of the journal Vaccine can be contacted at: Elsevier Science Ltd., the Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, Oxon, England.

Keywords: United Kingdom, Plague Vaccines, Bacteriology, Biotechnology, Bubonic Plague, Cholera, Monoclonal Antibody, Vaccines, Yersinia Pestis.

This article was prepared by Malaria Weekly editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2007, Malaria Weekly via NewsRx.com.