Comparison of different routes of vaccination for eliciting antibody responses in the human stomach

• Determination of optimal routes to induce mucosal immune responses locally in the stomach and duodenum are important steps in the development of vaccines against Helicobacter pylori infection. In this study, we immunized H. pylori-infected individuals either nasally or rectally with a model antigen, i.e. cholera toxin B subunit, and compared the immune responses after these routes with the responses after oral or intrajejunal vaccination. Specific antibody levels in serum as well as specific antibody levels and antibody-secreting cells in biopsies from antrum and duodenum were determined by ELISA and ELISPOT methods. In contrast to oral vaccination, nasal and rectal vaccination did not induce significant increases in specific antibody-secreting cells either in the antrum or duodenum. Furthermore, when analyzing the antibody levels in saponin extracted biopsies, intrajejunal vaccination was superior to both nasal and rectal vaccination in inducing antigen-specific IgA levels in the stomach. We conclude that oral vaccination is the optimal route for induction of antigen-specific IgA antibody responses in the stomach and duodenum of humans, while nasal or rectal vaccination is less suitable for this purpose.

Keyword

Administration

Intranasal

Administration

Oral

Administration

Rectal

Adult

Antibodies

Bacterial/biosynthesis

Cholera Toxin/*administration & dosage/immunology

Cholera Vaccines/*administration & dosage/immunology

Duodenum/immunology

Helicobacter Infections/immunology/prevention & control

Helicobacter pylori/immunology

Humans

Immunity

Mucosal

Immunoglobulin A/biosynthesis

Middle Aged

Stomach/*immunology

Vaccination/*methods

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)