Intrauterine vaccination induces a dose-sensitive primary humoral response with limited evidence of recall potential.

Abstract

Induction of the local mucosal immune system within the reproductive tract is widely considered to be a key component in the development of effective prophylactic vaccines to control the spread of sexually transmitted infections. Here, we examine the capacity of the upper reproductive tract to act as a site of immune induction following. Two vaccines formulated with a triple adjuvant combination and either recombinant bovine herpesvirus (tgD) protein or ovalbumin (OVA) were delivered at varying doses to the uterine lumen of rabbits and the resulting immune response evaluated after 32days. Intrauterine vaccination produced a dose-dependent induction of both antigen-specific IgG and IgA in serum. Both uterine and broncheoalveolar lavage of the high and medium-dose vaccine group contained a significant increase in both anti-OVA and anti-tgD IgG, but no significant quantities of antigen-specific IgA were observed. The restimulation of splenocytes from the high-dose vaccine group with ovalbumin (OVA) only resulted in a small but significant increase in gene expression of the Th1 cytokines (IL2/IFNγ) in the absence of an observable increase in proliferation. Collectively, the results confirm the capacity of the uterine immune system to generate a primary response following stimulation.