Recombinant AhpC antigen from boosts BCG-primed immunity in mice.

Tuberculosis (TB) is still one of the most common infectious diseases around the world despite the widespread use of BCG (bacille Calmette-Guerin) strain of as a vaccine. This vaccine does not always protect people from TB, and, thus, new effective vaccines or vaccination strategies are being investigated. In this study, alkyl hydroperoxide reductase (AhpC) from was evaluated as a new candidate vaccine antigen against TB in BALB/c mice model. The gene was amplified from genome, cloned, and expressed in . Vaccine antigen AhpC was formulated with Montanide ISA 61 VG, an oil-based emulsion adjuvant. Both IgG and IL-12 responses were observed in mice after administering the formulation both as a subunit vaccine alone and also as a booster vaccine for BCG immunization. However, a long-lasting response was observed when AhpC formulation was used as a booster (for BCG-primed immunization) as compared to being used as a subunit vaccine alone. In short, these findings suggested that AhpC has the potential to be used as a booster vaccine candidate for BCG-primed immunization.