A randomized, double blind study in young healthy adults comparing cell mediated and humoral immune responses induced by influenza ISCOM™ vaccines and conventional vaccines

Abstract

Although current influenza vaccines have been shown to reduce influenza-related morbidity and mortality, there is a desire to develop more efficacious products. Vaccines which can induce CD8 + cytotoxic T cell (CTL) responses in addition to strong antibody responses may be more effective in preventing disease since it has been demonstrated that CTL contribute to protective immunity, even against drift variants of influenza A viruses. The immunogenicity of two types of experimental influenza vaccines, which were based on immune stimulating complexes (ISCOM™), were evaluated and compared with a conventional non-adjuvanted inactivated split virion vaccine, after immunization of human volunteers. In this randomized, double blind study, it was shown that the ISCOM™ vaccines altered the kinetics of the serum antibody response, resulting in more rapid titer rises against the vaccine strains. This accelerated antibody response coincided with enhanced in vitro proliferative T cell responses, which were observed shortly after vaccination. In addition, CTL responses were observed in a higher proportion of the vaccinees receiving an ISCOM™ vaccine, than in vaccinees receiving the conventional influenza vaccine.