The development and standardization of an ELISA for ovalbumin determination in influenza vaccines

A double antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of ovalbumin in influenza vaccines has been developed and standardized. Commercially available reagents were used. ELISA was compared to single radial immunodiffusion (SRD) and immunoelectro-osmophoresis (IEOP) techniques. The detection limit by ELISA was 0.5 ng/ml. This method was found to be at least 1000 times more sensitive than SRD and at least 200 times more sensitive than IEOP. It was concluded that ELISA is a specific, sensitive and reproducible method for the determination of the small amounts of ovalbumin found as an impurity in unconcentrated influenza vaccines.     

Identification and Quantitation of the Components of Polyvalent Inactivated Influenza Virus Vaccines by Immunodiffusion

One of the basic problems in the standardization of inactivated polyvalent influenza virus vaccines has been the determination of the relative potency of the individual strain components. The chicken cell agglutination test measures reliably the total hemagglutinin content of these vaccines. With immunodiffusion techniques, it is now possible to quantitate each strain component of polyvalent vaccines. Routine application of these techniques would serve as an interim procedure to assess antigenic potency of individual strain components of commercial vaccines until improved tests are developed.     

甲型流感病毒M2e通用疫苗的研究进展

流感严重地影响人们的身体健康和工作生活,给社会带来巨大经济损失。疫苗接种是预防流感的有效措施之一,市场上的流感疫苗包括流感灭活疫苗、减毒活疫苗和亚单位疫苗等。这些流感疫苗只能预防相同亚型流感病毒的感染,无法预防不同亚型流感病毒引起的季节性流感和流感大流行,因此迫切需要研发广谱的能预防不同亚型的甲型流感病毒感染的通用疫苗。在此简要介绍甲型流感病毒M2e通用疫苗的研究进展。     

Endotoxins in commercial vaccines.

Twenty samples of commercial vaccines intended for administration to humans were assayed for the presence of bacterial endotoxins by using the Limulus amebocyte lysate test. Sixteen of the vaccines contained more than 0.1 ng of endotoxin per ml (which corresponds to 103 bacterial cell wall equivalents per ml in the undiluted vaccines). These results suggest that at some stage of preparation, the vaccines have contained varying amounts of gram-negative bacteria and may indicate the presence of other bacterial products as well. It might be useful to list the level of endotoxins, phage, and other contaminants on each vaccine lot to facilitate studies on any side effects of these contaminants. Selection of vaccine lots with the least endotoxin might reduce some of the adverse effects of vaccinations.     

An in vitro method for evaluating endotoxic activity using prostaglandin E2 induction in bovine peripheral blood

Severe side effects of veterinary vaccines, in particular Histophilus somni-containing vaccines for cows, have frequently been reported in Japan. These side effects are probably caused by endotoxins. Contamination levels of endotoxins could be monitored using the Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) test; however, the LAL test is not completely adequate for evaluation of in vivo endotoxic activities. In this study, we established a method for evaluating endotoxic activities using prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) induction in bovine peripheral blood. Blood and standard endotoxin, derived from Escherichia coli, were mixed and incubated. The concentration of induced PGE₂ in the culture supernatant reached a maximum after 24-h incubation. A linear dose-response curve was observed for PGE₂ concentration and the logarithmic transformed standard endotoxin concentration (5–5000 ng/ml). The endotoxic activity of H. somni in cows was the highest among those of several tested endotoxins. However, the LAL activities of H. somni were not as high as those of the other tested endotoxins. These results may provide a reason for the many report of side effects of H. somni-containing vaccines. The PGE₂ detection assay described here could be a valuable method for evaluating the endotoxic activities of vaccines in cows.     

流感疫苗研制的新策略

流感病毒感染可引起急性呼吸道传染病,严重危害人类的健康与生命。疫苗免疫是防控流感的重要手段。目前广泛应用的传统灭活疫苗和减毒活疫苗,在预防流感中发挥了重要作用,但存在通用性差和免疫效率低等不足。研制更为安全高效特别是能针对多种流感亚型的新型广谱疫苗成为当前流感疫苗研究的热点。随着结构生物学和反向遗传生物学等新技术的迅速发展,一些新策略不断应用于新型流感疫苗的研究,显示出良好的应用前景。     

Advances in novel influenza vaccines: a patent review

The threat of a major human influenza pandemic such as the avian H5N1 or the 2009 new H1N1 has emphasized the need for effective prevention strategies to combat these pathogens. Although egg based influenza vaccines have been well established for a long time, it remains an ongoing public health need to develop alternative production methods that ensures improved safety, efficacy, and ease of administration compared with conventional influenza vaccines. This article is intended to cover some of the recent advances and related patents on the development of influenza vaccines including live attenuated, cell based, genomic and synthetic peptide vaccines.     

Specific assay for endotoxin using immobilized histidine and Limulus amebocyte lysate.

The LAL test is inhibited or enhanced by many substances. To overcome these problems, we have developed a specific endotoxin assay method using an ultrafiltration unit, a fluorometric LAL reagent, and immobilized histidine (which is a specific adsorbent for endotoxins). This method is composed of two steps. The first step is the adsorption of endotoxins. Using immobilized histidine, endotoxins are quantitatively adsorbed on the adsorbent, and the adsorbed endotoxins are separated from LAL-inhibiting or -enhancing substances by the ultrafiltration unit. The second step is the reaction of adsorbed endotoxins with the LAL reagent. The endotoxins adsorbed on immobilized histidine are directly reacted with the LAL reagent in a filter cup and show enough activity for assay. The reproducibility and the accuracy of this method are high, and the recovery of endotoxins from a sample solution is more than 95%. The new endotoxin assay method using immobilized histidine can be utilized for the determination of endotoxins in a solution containing LAL-inhibiting or -enhancing substances such as amino acids and antibiotics instead of requiring employment of the more common gel-clot technique.     

Prevention of acute otitis media using currently available vaccines

Acute otitis media (AOM) is common in infants and children. Although approximately two-thirds of cases are due to bacteria, almost all of the episodes are preceded by upper respiratory viral infection. Several viruses, among which respiratory syncytial virus is the most common, are involved in the determination of AOM. However, a significant number of AOM cases are associated with influenza infection, and influenza viruses are among the most frequently found respiratory viruses in the middle ear fluid during an acute episode of AOM. Consequently, influenza vaccination may have a favorable impact on the incidence and course of AOM. Moreover, as Streptococcus pneumoniae is one of the leading AOM bacterial pathogens and it is well known that influenza virus infection predisposes to pneumococcal infection, there is a further reason to suggest the use of influenza vaccine to reduce the risk of AOM. On the other hand, the administration of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine is considered per se a possible means of reducing the incidence of the disease. However, although a number of studies have measured the impact of both vaccines on AOM, it is still not known whether (and to what extent) they are really effective, nor what impact the more recently licensed vaccines may have. The aim of this review is to examine the clinical impact of vaccinations on AOM.     

Novel Viral Vectored Vaccines for the Prevention of Influenza

Influenza represents a substantial global healthcare burden, with annual epidemics resulting in 3–5 million cases of severe illness with a significant associated mortality. In addition, the risk of a virulent and lethal influenza pandemic has generated widespread and warranted concern. Currently licensed influenza vaccines are limited in their ability to induce efficacious and long-lasting herd immunity. In addition, and as evidenced by the H1N1 pandemic in 2009, there can be a significant delay between the emergence of a pandemic influenza and an effective, antibody-inducing vaccine. There is, therefore, a continued need for new, efficacious vaccines conferring cross-clade protection—obviating the need for biannual reformulation of seasonal influenza vaccines. Development of such a vaccine would yield enormous health benefits to society and also greatly reduce the associated global healthcare burden. There are a number of alternative influenza vaccine technologies being assessed both preclinically and clinically. In this review we discuss viral vectored vaccines, either recombinant live-attenuated or replication-deficient viruses, which are current lead candidates for inducing efficacious and long-lasting immunity toward influenza viruses. These alternate influenza vaccines offer real promise to deliver viable alternatives to currently deployed vaccines and more importantly may confer long-lasting and universal protection against influenza viral infection.     

The results of state trials of inactivated influenza vaccines for children

Controlled epidemiological surveillance covering the total number of 13,355 schoolchildren aged 11-14 years and adolescents was carried out with a view to compare the efficacies of inactivated influenza vaccines. The children were immunized intradermally in a single injection with inactivated influenza vaccines containing A (H3N2) and A (H1N1) hemagglutinins, 3.5 micrograms per 0.2 ml of the preparation each. The studies demonstrated the safety and low reactogenicity of these vaccines, as well as their high antigenic potency. In 1984 during mixed influenza B + A (H1N1) epidemic the preparations produced a pronounced prophylactic effect: the efficacy indices were 1.6-1.9 (p less than 0.001). The results obtained in these studies made it possible to recommend two inactivated influenza vaccines (chromatographic and centrifugal) for practical medicine with the aim of protecting children aged 11 years and over from influenza.     

Automated Procedure for Measuring Antigenicity of Extracted and Intact Influenza Virus

An automated serum-blocking (S-B) technique was developed in an attempt to find an in vitro test for the determination of the antigenicity of extracted influenza vaccines. The S-B test depends on the ability of an antigen to combine with (or block) specific (in this case, hemagglutination-inhibiting) antibodies. After mixing the test virus with a constant amount of specific antiserum and hemagglutinating virus in an Auto Analyzer, chicken erythrocytes were pumped into the system and the mixture was incubated by passing through coils. The hemagglutinated cells were removed and the residual cells were lysed. The optical density was read and recorded automatically. The S-B test was much more reproducible than the chicken cell agglutination (CCA) test. There was good correlation between the S-B and CCA titers of intact influenza virus, but not of ether-extracted influenza virus. The CCA titer of influenza strains of type A was reduced significantly during ether-extraction. The S-B titers indicated that there was no significant loss in specific antigenicity when influenza strains of types A and B were extracted with ether and Tween-80 according to the described procedure. The S-B test seemed to be a true measurement of the total antigens present in influenza vaccines.     

禽流感疫苗研究进展

禽流感是由正黏病毒科流感病毒属的A型流感病毒引起的 ,发生于各种家禽和野鸟的一种急性传染病。由于其重要的经济和公共卫生学意义 ,使得禽流感的防治显得突出重要。疫苗的使用是控制禽流感的主要手段。目前实际应用中仍以禽流感全病毒灭活疫苗为主 ,但由于其潜在的缺点使得人们将目光转向其它类型疫苗的研制。从常规疫苗、新型疫苗和交叉保护性疫苗三个方面对禽流感疫苗研究进展加以阐述。常规疫苗包括基因工程亚单位疫苗和重组活载体疫苗 :新型疫苗主要有冷适应流感弱毒疫苗 ,基因工程活流感病毒疫苗 ,复制缺陷型病毒疫苗 ,DNA疫苗 ,RNA复制子疫苗 ,表位疫苗等 :交叉保护性疫苗主要依据流感病毒表面的保守蛋白M和NP的特性 ,构建疫苗来达到交叉保护的目的。     

Advancements in the development of subunit influenza vaccines

The ongoing threat of influenza epidemics and pandemics has emphasized the importance of developing safe and effective vaccines against infections from divergent influenza viruses. In this review, we first introduce the structure and life cycle of influenza A viruses, describing major influenza A virus-caused pandemics. We then compare different types of influenza vaccines and discuss current advancements in the development of subunit influenza vaccines, particularly those based on nucleoprotein (NP), extracellular domain of matrix protein 2 (M2e) and hemagglutinin (HA) proteins. We also illustrate potential strategies for improving the efficacy of subunit influenza vaccines.     

Application of deglycosylation to SDS PAGE analysis improves calibration of influenza antigen standards

Each year the production of seasonal influenza vaccines requires antigen standards to be available for the potency assessment of vaccine batches. These are calibrated and assigned a value for haemagglutinin (HA) content. The calibration of an antigen standard is carried out in a collaborative study amongst a small number of national regulatory laboratories which are designated by WHO as Essential Regulatory Laboratories (ERLs) for the purposes of influenza vaccine standardisation. The calibration involves two steps; first the determination of HA protein in a primary liquid standard by measurement of total protein in a purified influenza virus preparation followed by determination of the proportion of HA as determined by PAGE analysis of the sample; and second, the calibration of the freeze-dried reference antigen against the primary standard by single radial immunodiffusion (SRD) assay. Here we describe a collaborative study to assess the effect of adding a deglycosylation step prior to the SDS-PAGE analysis for the assessment of relative HA content. We found that while the final agreed HA value of the samples tested was not significantly different with or without deglycosylation, the deglycosylation step greatly improved between-laboratory agreement.     

Antibody Persistence in Adults Two Years after Vaccination with an H1N1 2009 Pandemic Influenza Virus-Like Particle Vaccine

The influenza virus is a human pathogen that causes epidemics every year, as well as potential pandemic outbreaks, as occurred in 2009. Vaccination has proven to be sufficient in the prevention and containment of viral spreading. In addition to the current egg-based vaccines, new and promising vaccine platforms, such as cell culture-derived vaccines that include virus-like particles (VLPs), have been developed. VLPs have been shown to be both safe and immunogenic against influenza infections. Although antibody persistence has been studied in traditional egg-based influenza vaccines, studies on antibody response durations induced by VLP influenza vaccines in humans are scarce. Here, we show that subjects vaccinated with an insect cell-derived VLP vaccine, in the midst of the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic outbreak in Mexico City, showed antibody persistence up to 24 months post-vaccination. Additionally, we found that subjects that reported being revaccinated with a subsequent inactivated influenza virus vaccine showed higher antibody titres to the pandemic influenza virus than those who were not revaccinated. These findings provide insights into the duration of the antibody responses elicited by an insect cell-derived pandemic influenza VLP vaccine and the possible effects of subsequent influenza vaccination on antibody persistence induced by this VLP vaccine in humans.     

Bacterially Produced Recombinant Influenza Vaccines Based on Virus-Like Particles

Although current influenza vaccines are effective in general, there is an urgent need for the development of new technologies to improve vaccine production timelines, capacities and immunogenicity. Herein, we describe the development of an influenza vaccine technology which enables recombinant production of highly efficient influenza vaccines in bacterial expression systems. The globular head domain of influenza hemagglutinin, comprising most of the protein''s neutralizing epitopes, was expressed in E. coli and covalently conjugated to bacteriophage-derived virus-like particles produced independently in E.coli. Conjugate influenza vaccines produced this way were used to immunize mice and found to elicit immune sera with high antibody titers specific for the native influenza hemagglutinin protein and high hemagglutination-inhibition titers. Moreover vaccination with these vaccines induced full protection against lethal challenges with homologous and highly drifted influenza strains.     

Screening of a High Growth Influenza B Virus Strain in Vero Cells

Due to the insufficient supply of embryonated chicken eggs,the preparation of large quantities of inactivated influenza vaccines will require an alternative virus culture system after the emergence or reemergence of a pandemic influenza virus.The Vero cell is one of the ideal options since it was used for producing many kinds of human vaccines.However,most of the influenza viruses can not grow well in Vero cells.To develop a new influenza vaccine with Vero cells as a substrate,the virus needs to adapt to th...     

流感病毒反向遗传学技术研究进展

流感病毒亚型众多,且极易发生变异,给防控带来很大困难,所以当务之急应加强其在致病机理、传播机制等方面的研究和加快新型流感疫苗的开发．近年来,反向遗传学技术的发展为流感病毒基因功能研究和疫苗制备方面开辟了新思路．     

Transient Humoral Protection against H5N1 Challenge after Seasonal Influenza Vaccination of Humans

Current influenza vaccines are believed to confer protection against a narrow range of virus strains. The identification of broadly influenza neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) has triggered efforts to develop vaccines providing ‘universal’ protection against influenza. Several bnAbs were isolated from humans recently vaccinated with conventional influenza vaccines, suggesting that such vaccines could, in principle, be broadly protective. Assessing the breadth-of-protection conferred to humans by influenza vaccines is hampered by the lack of in vitro correlates for broad protection. We designed and employed a novel human-to-mouse serum transfer and challenge model to analyze protective responses in serum samples from clinical trial subjects. One dose of seasonal vaccine induces humoral protection not only against vaccine-homologous H1N1 challenge, but also against H5N1 challenge. This heterosubtypic protection is neither detected, nor accurately predicted by in vitro immunogenicity assays. Moreover, heterosubtypic protection is transient and not boosted by repeated inoculations. Strategies to increase the breadth and duration of the protective response against influenza are required to obtain ‘universal’ protection against influenza by vaccination. In the absence of known correlates of protection for broadly protective vaccines, the human-to-mouse serum transfer and challenge model described here may aid the development of such vaccines.