Kale Akanksha, Joshi Devyani, Menon Ipshita, Bagwe Priyal, Patil Smital, Vijayanand Sharon, Braz Gomes Keegan, Uddin Mohammad N, D'Souza Martin J
Vaccine Nanotechnology Laboratory, Center for Drug Delivery and Research, Mercer University College of Pharmacy, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA.
Vaccines (Basel). 2023 Mar 3;11(3):583. doi: 10.3390/vaccines11030583.
Although the global Zika epidemic in 2015-16 fueled vaccine development efforts, there is no approved Zika vaccine or treatment available to date. Current vaccine platforms in clinical trials are administered via either subcutaneous or intramuscular injections, which are painful and decrease compliance. Therefore, in the present study, we explored Zika vaccine microparticles (MPs)-loaded dissolving microneedles (MNs) with adjuvant MPs encapsulating Alhydrogel and MPL-A administered via the transdermal route as a pain-free vaccine strategy. We characterized the MNs for needle length, pore formation, and dissolvability when applied to murine skin. Further, we evaluated the in vivo efficacy of vaccine MPs-loaded MNs with or without adjuvants by measuring the immune response after transdermal immunization. The vaccine MPs-loaded dissolving MNs with adjuvants induced significant IgG, IgG1, and IgG2a titers in immunized mice compared to the untreated control group. After the dosing regimen, the animals were challenged with Zika virus, monitored for seven days, and sacrificed to collect spleen and lymph nodes. The lymphocytes and splenocytes from the immunized mice showed significant expressions of helper (CD4) and cytotoxic (CD8a) cell surface markers compared to the control group. Thus, this study puts forth a 'proof-of-concept' for a pain-free transdermal vaccine strategy against Zika.
尽管2015 - 16年全球寨卡病毒疫情推动了疫苗研发工作,但迄今为止尚无获批的寨卡疫苗或治疗方法。目前处于临床试验阶段的疫苗平台通过皮下或肌肉注射给药,这种方式会引起疼痛且降低依从性。因此,在本研究中,我们探索了载有寨卡疫苗微粒(MPs)的溶蚀微针(MNs),其中佐剂微粒包裹了氢氧化铝凝胶和MPL - A,并通过经皮途径给药,以此作为一种无痛疫苗策略。我们对微针应用于小鼠皮肤时的针长、孔隙形成和溶解性进行了表征。此外,我们通过测量经皮免疫后的免疫反应,评估了载有疫苗微粒的微针在有无佐剂情况下的体内疗效。与未处理的对照组相比,载有疫苗微粒和佐剂的溶蚀微针在免疫小鼠中诱导产生了显著的IgG、IgG1和IgG2a滴度。给药方案结束后,用寨卡病毒攻击动物,监测七天,然后处死以收集脾脏和淋巴结。与对照组相比,免疫小鼠的淋巴细胞和脾细胞显示出辅助性(CD4)和细胞毒性(CD8a)细胞表面标志物的显著表达。因此,本研究为一种针对寨卡病毒的无痛经皮疫苗策略提供了“概念验证”。