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Cellular and humoral immune responses induced by intradermal or intramuscular vaccination with the major hepatitis B surface antigen
Author(s) -
Rahman Fareed,
Dahmen Anja,
HerzogHauff Sabine,
Böcher Wulf O.,
Galle Peter R.,
Löhr Hanns F.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
hepatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.488
H-Index - 361
eISSN - 1527-3350
pISSN - 0270-9139
DOI - 10.1002/hep.510310237
Subject(s) - immunology , medicine , immune system , antigen , antibody , vaccination , hepatitis , virology
The vaccination route may influence the success of immunization against pathogens. The conventional intramuscular (i.m.) application of a vaccine containing the hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen (HBsAg) led to protective anti‐HBs antibody levels in the majority of vaccine recipients. In this study, we vaccinated healthy volunteers and a group of i.m. vaccine nonresponders via the intradermal (i.d.) route and analyzed the HBV‐specific B‐cell response as well as class‐II– and class‐I–restricted T‐cell responses by 3 H‐thymidine uptake, enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and enzyme‐linked immunospot assay (ELISPOT). The results were then compared with i.m. vaccinated controls. I.d. vaccinations were well tolerated and induced neutralizing anti‐HBs antibodies in all naive vaccine recipients and, importantly, all but one former i.m. nonresponder developed protective anti‐HBs serum antibody levels after 2 or 3 i.d. immunizations. On the cellular level, i.d. vaccine recipients showed significantly higher anti‐HBs producing B‐cell frequencies and more vigorous class‐II–restricted T‐helper (Th) cell responses than i.m. controls. However, although the HBsAg‐specific T cells were characterized by their cytokine release as Th1‐like cells in both groups, human leukocyte antigen (HLA)‐A2+ individuals who received the soluble HBsAg via the i.d. route developed higher peptide‐specific cytotoxic CD8+ T cell precursor (CTLp) frequencies. In conclusion, i.d. HBsAg vaccination is more effective even in former i.m. vaccine nonresponders with respect to antibody induction and specific B‐ and T‐cell responses. The induction of virus‐specific CTLp may provide the rationale to study the i.d. HBsAg vaccine in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B.