The nanoemulsion is made up of soybean oil, alcohol, water and detergents emulsified into droplets less than 400 nanometers in diameter.
The study suggests that the new type of hepatitis B vaccine will not have rigid cold storage requirements and could require fewer administrations than current vaccines, which require three shots given over a period of six months. Protective immunity with the new vaccine required only two immunizations in animals. The vaccine also avoids the risk of spreading needle-borne infections.
The nanoemulsion vaccine also avoids the temporary pain and redness that results after people get shots with the current vaccines, in which an irritating compound, alum, is used as an adjuvant, or enhancer of a vaccine's effect. There was no local inflammation at the nasal site of administration with the new vaccine.
This finding may be significant, because one of the major concerns for nasal administration of vaccines is that they can find their way to the olfactory bulb in the brain and cause side effects, says Paul E. Makidon, D.V.M., co-first author of the study and a U-M research fellow. "Our studies, however, indicate no inflammation and no evidence of the vaccine in the olfactory bulb," he says.
Baker's team has published earlier studies affirming the promise of nasal nanoemulsions as a strategy for smallpox, influenza, anthrax and HIV vaccines. The nanoemulsion technology is patented by U-M and licensed to Ann Arbor-based NanoBio Corporation. Baker is a founder and equity holder of NanoBio.
Research details:
The research team determined effective doses of the antigen and nanoemulsion. In results obtained in mice, rats and guinea pigs, the nanoemul
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| Contact: Anne Rueter arueter@umich.edu 734-764-2220 University of Michigan Health System Source:Eurekalert |