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Bulletin No. 21 - Spring 2005
MiscelleanousImmunology
THACKER E
What you should know about vaccine adjuvants.
Pig International, 2004, Volume 34, Nº11, 10-13
The key concepts of vaccine adjuvants are reviewed in the clearest way. In pigs, the use of adjuvants in vaccines allow to develop, enhance and prolong immune response. The antigens included in most vaccines would not be able to induce an immune response strong enough on their own. Consequently, they need to be made more "attractive" for the first sentinels of the organism, namely macrophages and dendritic cells, which subsequently present the antigens to lymphocytes. Usually, vaccines made of modified live organisms do not require the use of adjuvants. Various types of adjuvants are available and each of them activates macrophages and dendritic cells in a different way: aluminum salts, water-in-oil emulsions, bacterial fractions, surface-active agents, complex carbohydrates, mixed (Freund's complete, considered among the most efficacious adjuvant). Another critical parameter to consider when assessing an adjuvant is that it should cause minimal tissue damage. A near future could see the use of cytokins as a further way of stimulating immune response.
