Vaginal vaccination

Johansson, E.L., L. Wassen, J. Holmgren, M. Jertborn, and A. Rudin. 2001. Nasal and vaginal vaccinations have differential effects on antibody responses in vaginal and cervical secretions in humans. Infect Immun 69 7481. 

A vaginal vaccine has been developed for the treatment of recurrent urinary tract infections. The multistrain vaccine, composed of 10 heat-killed bacterial uropathogenic strains, has been shown to be efficacious against cystitis in non-human primates when administered by the vaginal route. Bladder infections were significantly reduced and both systemic and local immune responses were generated. 

Association of an antigen with an appropriate microparticulate carrier may enhance antigen uptake by vaginal antigen-presenting cells. This strategy for vaginal vaccine delivery is described below (Section 11.7.5). 

Describe the possible reasons for enhanced vaginal vaccination using microparticulate systems. 

Oh, Y. K., Park, J. S., Yoon, H., and Kim, C. K. (2003), Enhanced mucosal and systemic immune responses to a vaginal vaccine coadministered with RANTES-expressing plasmid DNA using in situ-gelling mucoadhesive delivery system, Vaccine, 21, 1980-1988. 

Gardasil is a noninfectious recombinant vaccine consisting of capsid proteins from four different human papillomaviruses (HPVs) of types 6,11, 16, and 18. HPV causes squamous cell cervical cancer and cervical adenocarcinoma, as well as 35-50% of vulvar and vaginal cancers. 

Gardasil was approved by the FDA in 2006. It is a quadrivalent recombinant vaccine against the human papilloma vims (HPV), more specifically against types 6, 11, 16 and 18. It is able to reduce pre-cancerous cervical, vaginal and vulvar lesions, associated with HPV types 16 and 18, as well as condylomas associated with HPV types 6 and 11. With the approval of the first HPV vaccine, cervical cancer now has a primary prevention tool. 

Vaginal immunization experiments with a cholera vaccine containing killed vibrios and CTB have been conducted in both the follicular (V-FPimm) and luteal (V-LPimm) menstrual cycle phase. With both producing comparable cervical CTB-specific IgA responses, however, only the V-FPimm induced cervical IgA2-restricted Ab to the bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) vaccine component and induced CTB-specific IgA in rectal secretions. 

Medaglini, D., et al. 1997. Commensal bacteria as vectors for mucosal vaccines against sexually transmitted diseases Vaginal colonization with recombinant streptococci induces local and systemic antibodies in mice. Vaccine 15 1330. 

Cardenas-Freytag, L., et al. 2002. Partial protection against experimental vaginal candidiasis after mucosal vaccination with heat-killed Candida albicans and the mucosal adjuvant LT(R192G). Med My col 40 291. 

Uehling, D.T., et al. 2003. Phase 2 clinical trial of a vaginal mucosal vaccine for urinary tract infections. J Urol 170 867. 

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