Simultaneous parenteral and pulmonary immunisation against tuberculosis

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Two million individuals die each year from tuberculosis infection, which is an increasing problem because HIV/AIDS makes individuals highly susceptible and because antibiotic resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis are appearing. The present tuberculosis vaccine, BCG, is only partially effective, so development of a better vaccine is an urgent health care priority. Up to now, most new tuberculosis vaccines have been designed to be given after BCG, in order to boost the weak immunity provided by BCG. This is called prime boost immunisation. However, it is becoming clear that prime boost immunisation may not be sufficiently effective to control tuberculosis.In this project we will establish an alternative novel immunisation strategy called Simultaneous Immunisation (SIM). We have already shown that giving one tuberculosis vaccine by injection and simultaneously spraying another into the lungs is highly effective in mice. The lung vaccine establishes local immunity, which combats tuberculosis infection immediately after infection, and the injected vaccine has a slower effect, but the two work very effectively together. We now want to test several different SIM regimes in mice to find the most effective one and test its safety. We will also study how different white cells combine to protect the lungs against tuberculosis, in order to make even more effective vaccines in the future. At the same time we will study humans infected with tuberculosis to develop better tests to assess immunity to tuberculosis. This will help in testing new immunisation procedures, including SIM, in man. A better tuberculosis vaccine will have major health benefits for humans and can also be used to control bovine tuberculosis, which is currently widespread in the UK and causes considerable economic losses.