Investigation of gene therapy of adenovirus in immune suppression

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate the safety of reconstructed adenovirus in immunosuppressive therapeutics and to explore the role of ciclosporin A in antagonizing the elimination of the vector. Several rats were given retroperitoneal injection of purified ADV-TK in order to obtain models. After 14 days’ treatment of ciclosporin A, samples of different periods were obtained, then stained with hematoxylin-eosin (HE) to detect inflammation reactions. Immunohistochemistry was used to examine the expression of adenovirus in organs. The results are as follows: (1) In HE stained sections of the organs, some transitory and reversible inflammation was detected. (2) In immunohistochemistry assay, reconstructed adenovirus decreased gradually as time went by in the control group, while it did not happen in the experimental group in which the adenovirus showed a relative increase compared with their counterparts (P < 0.05). (3) The distributions of adenovirus in the liver, spleen and lung were higher than those in the other organs detected. Reconstructed adenovirus as a vector is definitely safe in immunosuppressive therapeutics, and ciclosporin A, to some extent, is able to consequently inhibit the immune response of the rats and prolong the existing period of adenovirus.