Science News & Science Current Events
 
Email a Friend Send to a friend
Printer Friendly Print Tattooing improves response to DNA vaccine

Tattooing improves response to DNA vaccine

February 07, 2008

A tattoo can be more than just a fashion statement - it has potential medical value, according to an article published in the online open access journal, Genetic Vaccines and Therapy.

Martin Müller and his team at the Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (German Cancer Research Center), Heidelberg, Germany, have shown that tattooing is a more effective way of delivering DNA vaccines than intramuscular injection. Using a coat protein from the human papillomavirus (HPV, the cause of cervical cancer) as a model DNA vaccine antigen, they compared delivery by tattooing the skin of mice with standard intramuscular injection with, and without, the molecular adjuvants that are often given to boost immune response.




The tattoo method gave a stronger humoral (antibody) response and cellular response than intramuscular injection, even when adjuvants were included in the latter. Three doses of DNA vaccine given by tattooing produced at least 16 times higher antibody levels than three intramuscular injections with adjuvant. The adjuvants enhanced the effect of intramuscular injection, but not of tattooing.

Tattooing is an invasive procedure done with a solid vibrating needle, causing a wound and sufficient inflammation to 'prime' the immune system. It also covers a bigger area of the skin than an injection, so the DNA vaccine can enter more cells. These effects may account for the stronger immune response arising from introducing a DNA vaccine into the body by tattooing. Of course, the tattooing approach may not be to everyone's taste - as it is likely to hurt - but the researchers believe that it could have a role in, for instance, routine vaccination of cattle or in delivering therapeutic (rather than prophylactic) vaccines to humans.

'Vaccination with naked DNA has been hampered by its low efficiency' says Müller. 'Delivery of DNA via tattooing could be a way for a more widespread commercial application of DNA vaccines'

BioMed Central



Related Tattooing Current Events and Tattooing News Articles Tattooing Current Events and Tattooing News RSS Tattooing Current Events and Tattooing News RSS
Researchers Find New Treatment for Hepatitis C
Researchers at the OU Health Sciences Center have found a new use for an old drug. Their findings appear online Friday in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Community-associated staph infections involving antibiotic-resistant bacteria increase
The incidence of antibiotic-resistant staph infections associated with being acquired in the community and not in health care institutions increased almost seven-fold in Chicago's Cook County Hospital system between 2000 and 2005.

Researcher studies, treats military with 'silent disease'
For nearly four years, a researcher in Washington, D.C., has been working toward tracking how servicemembers respond to treatment for the "silent disease" hepatitis C.

Relationship between incarceration and race disparities in US HIV rates explored
There may be a relationship between incarceration and race disparities in American HIV rates, Yale researchers report in the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved.

Measures needed to reduce bloodborne infections in Irish prisons
There is an urgent need for increased infection control and harm reduction measures to reduce the transmission of hepatitis B and C viruses, and HIV in Irish prisons, concludes a study in this week's BMJ.

The Tattoo in European and American History
WRITTEN ON THE BODY The Tatoo in European and American History Edited by Jane Caplan Publication: Reaktion Books, Thursday 20 April, Paperback Original
More Tattooing Current Events and Tattooing News Articles


The Art and Science of Modern Tattooing
by Erick Alayon

The Art and Science of Modern Tattooing is one of the most comprehensive reference manuals ever written on the craft of tattooing. This book loaded with tips, tricks and techniques that would take years to figure out on your own. Inside you will learn everything you need to know about tattoo machines, springs, coils, frames, and more! Written for the beginner and professional alike. This book is...



Mitch O'connell: Tattoos

The book contains 250 tattoo designs, the best of O’Connell's 3 sets of tattoo flash titled Stewed, Screwed and Tattooed (2001), Done While Drunk (2002), and From the Bottom of the Barrel (2006). Each limited edition set sold for $100, and is now out of print, and this volume collects all the images in one easy-to-flip-through book. Mitch O'Connell's art is reminiscent of the Old School...



Japanese Tattooing Now!: Memory And Transition, Classic Horimono To The New One Point Style
by Michael McCabe

Japanese men have been marked by tattoo artists for the past 300 years. Today's urbane Japanese youth continue the tradition, proudly creating and wearing this ever changing art form. Over 530 breathtaking color photos display a vast range of Japanese tattoos, from traditional full-body forms repleat with classical images steeped in symbolism, including Horimono, to modern One-Point style,...



Tattooing From Japan To The West: Horitaka Interviews Contemporary Artists
by Takahiro Kitamura

Meet twenty-six leading contemporary tattoo artists. Interviews and over 425 exciting color photos of their artwork, from tattoos to paintings, make this an invaluable tattoo resource. This is a viable contribution to tattoo history worldwide, containing insightful interviews with living legends like Don Ed Hardy, Doc Forest, Horiyoshi III, Paul Jeffries, Bob Roberts, and Mike Malone. These...



A History of Japanese Body Suit Tattooing
by Mark Poysden, Marco Bratt

* Traces the history of the practice and artistry of body suit tattooing in Japan. * Highly illustrated: color and b/w photos and illus throughoutTattooing has had a long and sometimes dark life, particularly in Japan. The practice of punitive tattooing has existed for at least two thousand years globally. Japan was the last country to abolish it, in 1870. As elsewhere, the Japanese covered these...



Secrets of Tattooing
by Erick Alayon

Secrets of Tattooing is a breakthrough in the tattooing industry. The information contained in this book has never been available before. Rediscover the 'lost secrets' of tattooing. Learn how and why a Tattoo Machine runs the way it does, and how to make it run the way you want it to. With Secrets of Tattooing you will also learn about Machine Frames, Frame Geometry, Tattoo Needles, Ink Mixing...



Living Picture Books: Portraits of a Tattooing Passion 1878-1952
by Ruts, Gerold Ed. Schuler



Tattooing in the Marquesas (Dover Books on Anthropology and Folklore)
by Willowdean Chatterson Handy



Maori Tattooing (Dover Pictorial Archives)
by H. G. Robley

This classic of ethnography describes Maori tattooing (moko), which communicates the bearer's genealogy, tribal affiliation, and spirituality. This definitive study relates how moko first became known to Europeans and discusses the distinctions between men and women's moko, patterns and designs, and moko in legend and song. Features 180 black-and-white...



Tattooing New York City Style and Continui
by Michael McCabe

This book is an exploration into the unique continuity that exists in New York City between the past and present of the intriguing art form of tattooing. Here the electric tattoo machine was developed, and has had a unique influence in modern tattooing worldwide. The technical and artistic values that first coalesced here during the early 20th century now are intrinsic to the art form. This...

© 2008 BrightSurf.com