Журнал микробиологии, эпидемиологии и иммунобиологии (Jul 2022)

Preclinical study of immunogenicity of adjuvanted quadrivalent subunit influenza vaccine

  • I. V. Krasilnikov,
  • A. V. Ivanov,
  • A. M. Nikolaeva,
  • O. V. Belyakova,
  • E. K. Shevchenko,
  • N. A. Mikhailova,
  • I. A. Leneva,
  • V. V. Zverev

DOI
https://doi.org/10.36233/0372-9311-244
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 99, no. 3
pp. 300 – 308

Abstract

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Background. Preventive vaccination is a vitally important strategic aspect of protection of the population against severe effects of influenza epidemics. The priority attention is given to development of effective tetravalent vaccines containing antigens of two influenza A lineages (H1N1, H3N2) and two influenza B lineages (Victoria and Yamagata) in combination with immunoadjuvants.The aim of the work was to conduct the preclinical study of the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of the innovative tetravalent subunit vaccine containing antigens of influenza A and B viruses as well as a corpuscular adjuvant.Materials and methods. The study was conducted using female BALB/c mice. The tetravalent vaccine and monovalent intermediate vaccines combined with a betulin adjuvant were injected intraperitoneally two times at a 14-day interval. The immunogenic activity was measured by the hemagglutination inhibition assay. The protective activity of the vaccine was assessed by changes in the viral load, body weight and survival rates using the mouse model of fatal influenza A H1N1 virus infection.Results. The mice vaccinated with the adjuvanted quadrivalent subunit influenza vaccine produced antibodies against all four influenza viruses included in the vaccine; the mean antibody titers in the hemagglutination inhibition assay were above 1 : 40. The second-dose vaccination induced a significant increase in levels of antibodies against all four influenza viruses. The dose of the quadrivalent subunit adjuvanted vaccine containing 5 µg of each antigen and 200 µg of the adjuvant provided a 100% survival rate in mice and significantly decreased lung viral titers (more than 3 lg TCID50) in the mouse model of influenza pneumonia.Conclusion. The quadrivalent subunit vaccine with the betulin-based corpuscular adjuvant demonstrates high immunogenicity in laboratory mice and provides protection against fatal pneumonia caused by the influenza A virus subtype H1N1.

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