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Chapter category: Vaccines

The Use of DNA Vaccines for Neonatal/Early Life Childhood Immunization

This chapter appears in the following book:

DNA Vaccines

Edited by: Hildegund Ertl
ISBN: 0-306-47444-1
» Get more information about this book at landesbioscience.com «

Chapter authors:
Jiri Kovarik, Xavier Martinez, ClaireAnne Siegrist

DNA vaccines could represent a major advancement in the development of novel antigen-delivery systems to be used in early life, although the demonstration of their efficacy and safety in human adults must be awaited before any prediction on the future of such vaccines in early life can be made. Their capacity to efficiently induce adultlike neonatal T helper (Th)1-type and cytolytic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses to encoded antigens in several animal species could be particularly beneficial in view of the preferential Th2-polarization and weak CTL activity frequently observed at this young age. In contrast, their frequent failure to induce early life vaccine antibody responses above those elicited by live attenuated/adjuvanted protein vaccines, remains a significant limitation. This feature calls for much more complex vaccine strategies (i.e., primeboost approaches), that may not prove feasible in countries that most need novel DNA vaccines. Similarly, the expectation that the in vivo antigen production would allow DNA vaccines to readily escape from the inhibitory influence of maternal antibodies has not been confirmed, despite the reported success in a few experimental settings. Notably, considerable heterogeneity in the quantity and quality of early life T and B cell responses to DNA immunization has been observed. These are reviewed here, underlining that a better understanding of the respective roles of the routes and methods of administration, the doses and types of antigen(s) and constructs, the coadministration of antigens or immunomodulators, the ages of recipients and the titers of pre-existing maternal antibodies is clearly needed. DNA immunization models in various animal species should thus be used to progressively identify the essential parameters and characteristics of the novel DNA vaccine candidates which may be considered for use in early life.

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