Corynebacterium adjuvants

BCG is a viable strain of Mycobacterium bovis that has been used for immunization against tuberculosis. It has also been employed as a nonspecific adjuvant or immunostimulant in cancer therapy but has been successful only in intravesical therapy for superficial bladder cancer. BCG appears to act at least in part via activation of macrophages to make them more effective killer cells in concert with lymphoid cells in the cellular efferent limb of the immune response. Lipid extracts of BCG as well as nonviable preparations of Corynebacterium parvum may have similar nonspecific immunostimulant properties. A chemically defined derivative of the BCG cell wall, [Lys18]-muramyl dipeptide, has been licensed in Japan to enhance bone marrow recovery after cancer chemotherapy. 

Inactivated Corynebacterium parvum has been tried as an adjuvant in patients with cancer and in the treatment of malignant pleural effusions. Fever and chiUs were frequent, with sustained fever and chest or abdominal pain in several patients (1,2). 

Ludwig Lung Cancer Study Group. Adverse effect of intrapleural Corynebacterium parvum as adjuvant therapy in resected stage I and II non-small cell carcinoma of the lung. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1985 89(6) 842-7. 

Mycoplasmal injections Into swine and mice produce syndromes which approximate the symptoms seen in arthritic patients. These models are based on the theory of microbial infection as a trigger mechanism. The non-pathogen Corynebacterium rubrum can induce adjuvant arthritis in rata. ... 

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