Promotion the Immunogenicity of Chitosan Nanoparticle-Based Influenza Vaccine Using Hemokinin-1

The inactivated vaccines are formulated with adjuvant to direct the host immune responses and also increase stability of the antigen. In recent years, the development of biological adjuvants and the evaluation of their ability in elicitation of immune responses against influenza virus have been considered. Hemokinin-1 (HK-1) activates T and B cells for differentiation into plasma cells, and antibody production. In this study, the effect of HK-1 for inducing humoral immune response against influenza chitosan based-nano vaccine was investigated.

Chitosan nanoparticle containing inactivated influenza antigen and chitosan nanoparticle containing the inactivated antigen formulated with HK-1 were prepared. Immune response following influenza nanoparticles vaccinations with and without the adjuvant was assessed in SPF chickens after prime and boost immunizations. Specific antibody levels against influenza were evaluated in serum samples of treatment and control groups by serological tests.
Findings: The chickens immunized with the HK-1 adjuvanted nano vaccine produced higher specific antibody titers that were sustained until the end of experiment comparable either with inactivated antigen alone or the H9N2 nanoparticles without HK-1 adjuvant. Administration of boosting had no effect on the enhancing of antibody titer.

The data show that the chitosan nanoparticles provide better absorption conditions and more stability and release of the influenza antigen in the presence of HK-1 biological adjuvant.