Comments by J. C. Spencer

Trehalose continues to impact medicine, healthcare, food processing and preservation. But, this is a new one. Coating needles with trehalose-stabilized particles may become a promising tool for vaccinations. Reports continue to come in about the stabilizing influence of trehalose. If you have not downloaded or purchased Vol. One and Vol. Two of The Trehalose Handbook, you can do that today in our download store. The download copies is our gift to our readers.

Here is the abstract:

Influenza immunization with trehalose-stabilized virus-like particle vaccine using microneedles

Yeu-Chun Kima, b, Fu-Shi Quanb, Jae-Min Songb, Aswani Vunnavab, Dae-Goon Yoob, Kyoung-Mi Parkb, Richard W. Compansb, Sang-Moo Kangb, and Mark R Prausnitza,
a School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
b Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine
Available online 14 April 2010.

Abstract

Morbidity and mortality due to seasonal and pandemic influenza could be reduced by simpler vaccination methods that enable improved vaccination coverage. In this study, solid metal microneedles coated with influenza virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine were inserted into skin for intradermal immunization. Microneedles were applied to the skin by hand and designed for simple administration with little or no training. Inclusion of trehalose in the coating formulation significantly increased vaccine stability during coating by maintaining hemagglutination activity. Mice vaccinated with stabilized microneedles developed strong antibody responses comparable to conventional intramuscular vaccination and were fully protected against subsequent viral challenge. Whereas, coating microneedles with a coating solution lacking trehalose led to only partial protection against lethal viral challenge. Therefore, our results show that microneedles coated with trehalose-stabilized VLP vaccine can be a promising tool for improving influenza vaccination.

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3rd Vaccine Global Congress, Singapore 2009

Abstract available online.

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