An Outer Membrane Vesicle-Adjuvanted Oral Vaccine Protects Against Lethal, Oral Infection.

Non-typhoidal salmonellosis, caused by serovar Typhimurium is a common fecal-oral disease characterized by mild gastrointestinal distress resulting in diarrhea, chills, fever, abdominal cramps, head and body aches, nausea, and vomiting. Increasing incidences of antibiotic resistant invasive non-typhoidal infections makes this a global threat requiring novel treatment strategies including next-generation vaccines. The goal of the current study was to formulate a novel vaccine platform against infection that could be delivered orally. To accomplish this, we created a -specific vaccine adjuvanted with outer membrane vesicles (OMVs). We show that adding OMVs to a heat-killed oral vaccine (HKST + OMVs) protects against a lethal, oral challenge with . Further, we show that opsonizing anti- antibodies are induced in response to immunization and that CD4 T cells and B cells can be induced when OMVs are used as the oral adjuvant. This study represents a novel oral vaccine approach to combatting the increasing problem of invasive infections.