Development of transcutaneous immunization system for Alzheimer's disease

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Vaccine therapy for Alzheimer's disease (AD) based on the amyloid cascade hypothesis has recently attracted attention for treatment of AD. Injectable immunization of amyloid beta peptide (Ab) as antigens showed therapeutic efficacy; therefore, a clinical trial was conducted. However, the clinical trial was stopped due to the incidence of meningoencephalitis caused by excess activation of Th1 cells infiltrating the brain as a serious adverse reaction. Because recent studies have suggested that transcutaneous immunization (TCI) is likely to elicit Th2-dominant immune responses, in this study, we investigated the vaccine efficacy of TCI against AD using a novel dissolving microneedle array (MicroHyala; MH). Our TCI induced anti-Ab1-42 immune responses by simple and low-invasive application of Ab-containing MH to the skin. Unfortunately, this TCI resulted in little significant improvement in cognitive function and Th2-dominant immune responses, suggesting the need for further modification.