Chitosan Nanoparticles Act as an Adjuvant to Promote both Th1 and Th2 Immune Responses Induced by Ovalbumin in Mice

Abstract

The study was conducted to investigate the promoted immune response to ovalbumin in mice by chitosan nanoparticles (CNP) and its toxicity. CNP did not cause any mortality or side effects when mice were administered subcutaneously twice with a dose of 1.5 mg at 7-day intervals. Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mice were immunized subcutaneously with 25 μg ovalbumin (OVA) alone or with 25 μg OVA dissolved in saline containing Quil A (10 μg), chitosan (CS) (50 μg) or CNP (12.5, 50 or 200 μg) on days 1 and 15. Two weeks after the secondary immunization, serum OVA-specific antibody titers, splenocyte proliferation, natural killer (NK) cell activity, and production and mRNA expression of cytokines from splenocytes were measured. The serum OVA-specific IgG, IgG1, IgG2a, and IgG2b antibody titers and Con A-, LPS-, and OVA-induced splenocyte proliferation were significantly enhanced by CNP (P < 0.05) as compared with OVA and CS groups. CNP also significantly promoted the production of Th1 (IL-2 and IFN-γ) and Th2 (IL-10) cytokines and up-regulated the mRNA expression of IL-2, IFN-γ and IL-10 cytokines in splenocytes from the immunized mice compared with OVA and CS groups. Besides, CNP remarkably increased the killing activities of NK cells activity (P < 0.05). The results suggested that CNP had a strong potential to increase both cellular and humoral immune responses and elicited a balanced Th1/Th2 response, and that CNP may be a safe and efficacious adjuvant candidate suitable for a wide spectrum of prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines.

Possible Synergistic Effect and Antioxidant Properties of Chitosan Nanoparticles and Quercetin against Carbon Tetrachloride-Induce Hepatotoxicity in Rats

“…Consequently, chitosan nanoparticles (CNPs) could exhibit more superior activities than chitosan due to their small size and quantum size effect. Not surprisingly, CNPs have been reported to have heightened immune-enhancing effect [88], anticancer activity [89], antimutagenic activity [90] and antimicrobial activity [91] than those of CS. Nevertheless, other biological activities are unknown, such as the antioxidant activity of CNPs, which has received less attention.…”

Polyethylene glycol-coated graphene oxide attenuates antigen-specific IgE production and enhanced antigen-induced T-cell reactivity in ovalbumin-sensitized BALB/c mice

“…Chitosan nanoparticles have been suggested as a promising vaccine adjuvant, as evidenced by the promotion of both Th1 and Th2 immune responses in OVA-sensitized mice. 36 Previous studies also showed that GO-absorbed anti-IL10R antibodies significantly increased OVA-specific CD8 + T-cell responses in mice. 37 In line with these reports, the present study showed that systemic exposure to PEG-GO enhanced the expression of both Th1 and Th2 cytokines and the metabolic activity of splenocytes stimulated by the primed antigen OVA.…”

Effects of irradiated Ergosan on the growth performance and mucus biological components of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss

“…Nanoparticle interactions with the immune system depend on the physicochemical properties of these substances such as size, surface charge, solubility, and surface functionality, which may infl uence their biological properties (Dobrovolskaia et al, 2008). For example, due to the special characters of chitosan nanoparticles, more effi cient uptake by phagocytotic cells induces stronger systemic and mucosal immune responses than occurs with chitosan (Wen et al, 2011). Even though the direct exposure of bacterial pathogens to nanoparticles might lead to disruption of cell membranes and the leakage of cytoplasm (Qi et al, 2004), the strong antibacterial eff ects in fi sh mucus that we observed act probably via the activation of immunological components, which occurred after the administration of Ergosan nanoparticles.…”