 |
|
Anthrax vaccine produces immunity with nanoparticles, not needles
August 17, 2007Easy-to-use nasal emulsion could protect after bioterror attack
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - A vaccine against anthrax that is more effective and easier to administer than the present vaccine has proved highly effective in tests in mice and guinea pigs, report University of Michigan Medical School scientists in the August issue of Infection and Immunity.
The scientists were able to trigger a strong immune response by treating the inside of the animals' noses with a "nanoemulsion" - a suspension of water, soybean oil, alcohol and surfactant emulsified to create droplets of only 200 to 300 nanometers in size. It would take about 265 of the droplets lined up side by side to equal the width of a human hair.
The oil particles are small enough to ferry a key anthrax protein inside the nasal membranes, allowing immune-system cells to react to the protein and initiate a protective immune response. That primes the immune system to promptly fight off infection when it encounters the whole microbe.
Besides eliminating the need for needles, the nanoemulsion anthrax vaccine has another advantage, the researchers say: It is easy to store and use in places where refrigeration is not available.
An effective and easy-to-administer vaccine would be a valuable tool for health authorities dealing with any future attack in which a terrorist might spread anthrax microbes. The researchers say a nasal nanoemulsion-based anthrax vaccine, if it proves effective in humans, could be given easily to people even after they are exposed in an anthrax attack, along with antibiotics. With some diseases, vaccines given after exposure are used to boost the speed of the immune response.
"Anthrax spores can remain in the environment or even in the lungs of exposed individuals for some time. Nasal vaccination could be given to build up immunity after anthrax exposure and improve the outcome of other treatments," says Anna Bielinska, Ph.D., the paper's lead author and a scientist at the Michigan Nanotechnology Institute for Medicine and Biological Sciences at the U-M. She is also an assistant research professor in the Allergy Division of Internal Medicine at the U-M Medical School.
In the 2001 attack in which anthrax spores were mailed to members of Congress and reporters, some anthrax-exposed individuals were given antibiotics but not the existing anthrax vaccine, because it requires six injections over a period of six months and may cause adverse reactions.
In the new study, the U-M team combined the nanoemulsion and a recombinant protein of Bacillus anthracis to make the vaccine, which they gave first to mice in either one or two applications. They found the animals developed several types of effective immune response. The vaccine produced both systemic and cellular immunity, meaning that the body produces antibodies and primes specific cells throughout the body to fend off anthrax infection. The vaccine also induced immunity on the mucous membranes of the nose and lungs, where inhaled anthrax spores enter the body and start a process that can cause illness and death.
"We saw protective immunity in the animals after only two administrations rather than six," says James R. Baker, Jr., M.D., director of the Michigan Nanotechnology Institute for Medicine and Biological Sciences and the senior author of the study. He is the Ruth Dow Doan Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and chief of the Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in the U-M Medical School.
After administering the vaccine, the researchers challenged the immune systems of immunized guinea pigs with injections of 1,000 times the lethal dose of Bacillus anthracis spores. All the animals survived, whereas none of the control animals did.
When the researchers delivered large doses of Bacillus anthracis spores directly into the animals' nasal tissue, they found that 40 percent to 70 percent of the immunized animals survived.
Because of the biosafety restrictions on the use of anthrax, these challenge experiments were done at the Batelle Memorial Institute and the University of Texas Medical Branch, which have labs federally approved for handling the pathogen.
The experiments so far have shown that the vaccine had no significant side effects and produced effective immunity for at least six months. The Michigan Nanotechnology Institute will seek funding to learn if the vaccine can produce immunity in primates as it does in rodents. Safety studies in humans are also in the early planning stage.
Scientists at the U-M earlier developed the nanoemulsion technique, which has been used to develop treatments for herpes and toenail fungus. The Michigan Nanotechnology Institute for Medicine and Biological Sciences was established at U-M in 2005 to develop and market medical and biological applications of nanotechnology. Patent applications for the nanoemulsion technology have been filed and exclusively licensed to NanoBio Corporation, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based biotechnology company in which Baker has a financial interest.
University of Michigan Health System
The oil particles are small enough to ferry a key anthrax protein inside the nasal membranes, allowing immune-system cells to react to the protein and initiate a protective immune response. That primes the immune system to promptly fight off infection when it encounters the whole microbe.
Besides eliminating the need for needles, the nanoemulsion anthrax vaccine has another advantage, the researchers say: It is easy to store and use in places where refrigeration is not available.
An effective and easy-to-administer vaccine would be a valuable tool for health authorities dealing with any future attack in which a terrorist might spread anthrax microbes. The researchers say a nasal nanoemulsion-based anthrax vaccine, if it proves effective in humans, could be given easily to people even after they are exposed in an anthrax attack, along with antibiotics. With some diseases, vaccines given after exposure are used to boost the speed of the immune response.
"Anthrax spores can remain in the environment or even in the lungs of exposed individuals for some time. Nasal vaccination could be given to build up immunity after anthrax exposure and improve the outcome of other treatments," says Anna Bielinska, Ph.D., the paper's lead author and a scientist at the Michigan Nanotechnology Institute for Medicine and Biological Sciences at the U-M. She is also an assistant research professor in the Allergy Division of Internal Medicine at the U-M Medical School.
In the 2001 attack in which anthrax spores were mailed to members of Congress and reporters, some anthrax-exposed individuals were given antibiotics but not the existing anthrax vaccine, because it requires six injections over a period of six months and may cause adverse reactions.
In the new study, the U-M team combined the nanoemulsion and a recombinant protein of Bacillus anthracis to make the vaccine, which they gave first to mice in either one or two applications. They found the animals developed several types of effective immune response. The vaccine produced both systemic and cellular immunity, meaning that the body produces antibodies and primes specific cells throughout the body to fend off anthrax infection. The vaccine also induced immunity on the mucous membranes of the nose and lungs, where inhaled anthrax spores enter the body and start a process that can cause illness and death.
"We saw protective immunity in the animals after only two administrations rather than six," says James R. Baker, Jr., M.D., director of the Michigan Nanotechnology Institute for Medicine and Biological Sciences and the senior author of the study. He is the Ruth Dow Doan Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and chief of the Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in the U-M Medical School.
After administering the vaccine, the researchers challenged the immune systems of immunized guinea pigs with injections of 1,000 times the lethal dose of Bacillus anthracis spores. All the animals survived, whereas none of the control animals did.
When the researchers delivered large doses of Bacillus anthracis spores directly into the animals' nasal tissue, they found that 40 percent to 70 percent of the immunized animals survived.
Because of the biosafety restrictions on the use of anthrax, these challenge experiments were done at the Batelle Memorial Institute and the University of Texas Medical Branch, which have labs federally approved for handling the pathogen.
The experiments so far have shown that the vaccine had no significant side effects and produced effective immunity for at least six months. The Michigan Nanotechnology Institute will seek funding to learn if the vaccine can produce immunity in primates as it does in rodents. Safety studies in humans are also in the early planning stage.
Scientists at the U-M earlier developed the nanoemulsion technique, which has been used to develop treatments for herpes and toenail fungus. The Michigan Nanotechnology Institute for Medicine and Biological Sciences was established at U-M in 2005 to develop and market medical and biological applications of nanotechnology. Patent applications for the nanoemulsion technology have been filed and exclusively licensed to NanoBio Corporation, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based biotechnology company in which Baker has a financial interest.
University of Michigan Health System
Anthrax News and Current Anthrax Events RSSGreen catalysts provide promise for cleaning toxins and pollutants
Tetra-Amido Macrocyclic Ligands (TAMLs) are environmentally friendly catalysts with a host of applications for reducing and cleaning up pollutants, and a prime example of "green chemistry." Carnegie Mellon University's Terry Collins, the catalyst's inventor, believes that the small-molecule catalysts have the potential to be even more effective than previously proven.
Nano vaccine for hepatitis B shows promise for third world
Chronic hepatitis B infects 400 million people worldwide, many of them children. Even with three effective vaccines available, hepatitis B remains a stubborn, unrelenting health problem, especially in Africa and other developing areas.
Francisella tularensis: Stopping a biological weapon
Scientists hope a vaccine is on the horizon for tularemia, a fatal disease caused by the pathogen Francisella tularensis, an organism of concern as a potential biological warfare agent. Until recently we knew very little about this bacterium.
Effective health messages may yield vaccine compliance among ER workers
Emergency room workers will be the first line of defense in the event of a disease pandemic and will be forced to deal with the chaos that inevitably comes with treating thousands of sick and dying. In order to protect themselves and allow them to care for the public, these first responders need to be fully prepared by getting available vaccines now.
Tests show LLNL detection instrument can monitor the air for all major terrorist threat substances
Security and law enforcement officials may some day have a new ally - a universal detection system that can monitor the air for virtually all of the major threat agents that could be used by terrorists.
New strategies against bird flu
The Spanish flu outbreak of 1918 killed between 30 and 50 million people. In the infected patients, the ultimate cause of death was acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
NIST, Army researchers pave the way for anthrax spore standards
Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the U.S. Army Dugway (Utah) Proving Ground have developed reliable methods based on DNA analysis to assess the concentration and viability of anthrax spores after prolonged storage.
Protein data bank archives 50,000th molecule structure
The Protein Data Bank (PDB) based at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and the University of California-San Diego (UCSD) this month reached a significant milestone in its 37-year history. The 50,000th molecule structure was released into its archive, joining other structures vital to pharmacology, bioinformatics and education.
Biosensing nanodevice to revolutionize health screenings
One day soon a biosensing nanodevice developed by Arizona State University researcher Wayne Frasch may eliminate long lines at airport security checkpoints and revolutionize health screenings for diseases like anthrax, cancer and antibiotic resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
Is a cup of tea really the answer to everything -- even anthrax?
A cup of black tea could be the next line of defence in the threat of bio-terrorism according to new international research.
More Anthrax News Articles
 | Vaccine A: The Covert Government Experiment That's Killing Our Soldiers--And Why GI's Are Only The First Victims by Gary Matsumoto Vaccine-A uncovers a story of betrayal -- the betrayal of the men and women who serve in the armed forces, the betrayal of medical ethics, and the betrayal of the American people by military and civilian leaders sworn to defend and protect. Veteran journalist Gary Matsumoto shows that the worst friendly-fire incident in military history came from something no soldier had any reason to think would... |
 | The Anthrax Letters: A Medical Detective Story by Leonard A. Cole At 2:00am on October 2, 2001, Robert Stevens entered a hospital emergency room. He was feverish, nauseated, and barely conscious. Notations on his admitting chart indicate that he was "not oriented to person, place, or time." Perplexed by the sudden and especially severe onset of his symptoms, doctors ran a variety of tests. As armies of bacterial agents attacked and shut down every major organ... |
 | Anthrax: The Investigation of a Deadly Outbreak by Jeanne Guillemin The great equalizer between humans and sheep, anthrax has filled us with morbid curiosity as far back as records exist. Once believed to be a manifestation of unholy fire, today it is seen as a weapon of deranged terrorists or sinister governments. Medical anthropologist Jeanne Guillemin's Anthrax: The Investigation of a Deadly Outbreak examines the 1979 deaths of 64 Soviet citizens in the Ural... |
 | Saddam's Attacks on America: 1993; September 11, 2001; and the Anthrax Attacks: A freewheeling and hard-hitting commentary on the life-threatening problems ... America and the prescription for their cure. by Hugh Cort III MD This book is dedicated to all patriots - past, present, and future, and especially to the modern day patriots of America -- the brave American men and women in our armed forces who fought and died and are fighting and dying this day in Afghanistan and Iraq so that terrorists and madmen ... will not be able to hurt our country again, not only with hijacked airplanes but also with chemical and... |
 | Spores, Plagues and History: The Story of Anthrax by Chris Holmes Spores, Plagues and History is the tale of one of history's most deadly bacterium, which has been causing natural disease since the time of Moses and man-made illness since World War II. Beginning with a description of the U.S. anthrax bioterrorism attacks of 2001, the story goes back in time to the earlist hint of the disease, the 5th and 6th plagues of Moses. Several epidemics are then... |
 | Not Forgotten by Hollywood Bob Hollywood Bob goes undercover into The CIA's Top Secret Program in Human Experimentation and Behavior Modification and exposes the truth behind this top seceret experiment. And uncovers the CIA using mind control on John F Kenndy Jr's fatal accident and the crash of Egypt Air 990. Hollywood also uncovers stories concerning the Mysterious Death Surrounding the Clinton's guy Ronald Miller. Ron... |
 | Amerithrax: The Hunt for the Anthrax Killer by Robert Graysmith National bestselling true-crime author Robert Graysmith lends his investigative insight to the definitive case study of America's invisible terrorist. Based in part on information from the FBI's Amerithrax task force, as well as the author's independent research, and with official photos and transcripts of the anthrax letters, this is the most comprehensive work to date about the plague of... |
 | Recognizing And Treating Exposure To Anthrax, Smallpox, Nerve Gas, Radiation, And Other Likely Agents Of Terrorist Attack by Matt Bollinger This easy-to-follow book offers descriptions of 29 likely toxins, viruses, gases and other agents that could be used by terrorists; the symptoms these substances produce; treatment options and ways to prevent... |
 | ABC's of Bumps & Bruises, a guide to home & herbal remedies for children by Theresa Roberts Includes valuable information about topics that concern lead poisoning, immunizations, autism, asthma, ADD/ADHD, lice, warts, colds, immune system, and many other topics that concern your child in one easy to read... |
 | The Killer Strain: Anthrax and a Government Exposed by Marilyn W. Thompson A lethal germ is unleashed in the U.S. mail. A chain of letters spreads terror from Florida to Washington, D.C., from New York to Connecticut, from the halls of Congress to the assembly lines of the U.S. Postal Service. Five people die, and ten thousand more line up for antibiotics to protect against exposure. The government, already outsmarted by the terrorist hijackers of 9/11, leaves its... |
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |