title: Chitosan as an adjuvant for a Helicobacter pylori therapeutic vaccine.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to delineate the therapeutic effect of a Helicobacter pylori vaccine with chitosan as an adjuvant, as well as to identify the potential mechanism against H. pylori infection when compared with an H. pylori vaccine, with cholera toxin (CT) as an adjuvant. Mice were first infected with H. pylori and, following the establishment of an effective infection model, were vaccinated using an H. pylori protein vaccine with chitosan as an adjuvant. Levels of H. pylori colonization, H. pylori‑specific antibodies and cytokines were determined by enzyme‑linked immunosorbent assay. The TLR4 and Foxp3 mRNA and protein levels were determined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry, respectively. It was identified that the H. pylori elimination rate of the therapeutic vaccine with chitosan as an adjuvant (58.33%) was greater than the therapeutic vaccine with CT as an adjuvant (45.45%). The therapeutic H. pylori vaccine with chitosan as an adjuvant induced significantly greater antibody and cytokine levels when compared with the control groups. Notably, the IL‑10 and IL‑4 levels in the groups with chitosan as an adjuvant to the H. pylori vaccine were significantly greater than those in the groups with CT as an adjuvant. The mRNA expression levels of TLR4 and Foxp3 were significantly elevated in the mice that were vaccinated with chitosan as an adjuvant to the H. pylori vaccine, particularly in mice where the H. pylori infection had been eradicated. The H. pylori vaccine with chitosan as an adjuvant effectively increased the H. pylori elimination rate, the humoral immune response and the Th1/Th2 cell immune reaction; in addition, the therapeutic H. pylori vaccine regulated the Th1 and Th2 response. The significantly increased TLR4 expression and decreased CD4+CD25+Foxp3+Treg cell number contributed to the immune clearance of the H. pylori infection. Thus, the present findings demonstrate that in mice the H. pylori vaccine with chitosan as an adjuvant exerts an equivalent immunotherapeutic effect on H. pylori infection when compared with the H. pylori vaccine with CT as an adjuvant.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yanfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Liming
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Fucai
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Dongsheng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Sijun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Jiangxi Medical Science Institute, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330006, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Nanjin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology; D002772:Cholera Toxin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005756:Gastritis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D051197:Toll-Like Receptor 4 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D016207:Cytokines; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; C498833:Foxp3 protein, mouse; D051197:Toll-Like Receptor 4; D002772:Cholera Toxin; D048271:Chitosan