Is intranasal vaccination a feasible solution for tuberculosis?

Abstract

Bacille Calmette–Guerin (BCG) vaccine has been the only licensed tuberculosis (TB) vaccine administered to humans and, until today, more than 3 billion people have received BCG. However, despite the use of BCG, TB remains a global epidemic with a third of the world population being infected. Regardless of the protection induced by BCG in childhood TB, BCG vaccination fails to protect against pulmonary TB in adults, which represents more than 85% of the total TB burden. Therefore, the development of safe and efficacious TB vaccines that can confer potent protection in the lung mucosa has remained a major challenge to TB vaccinologists. Intranasal vaccination by different antigen formulations has shown promising results in the augmentation of immunity and the combat of the pathogens at the site of infection. This article will focus on the potential of intranasal vaccination and mucosal adjuvants for the development of new-generation TB vaccines.

Keywords::

• compartmentalization of immune system
• intranasal vaccination
• mucosal adjuvant
• Mycobacterium tuberculosis
• respiratory mucosa
• tuberculosis

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank to JS Schorey, Assistant Director, Eck Center for Global Health and Infectious Disease, University of Notre Dame. The help of Anshika Sharma and Lindsay Sweet in critical reading of the manuscript is gratefully acknowledged.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.