The Preparation and Properties of Influenza Virus Vaccines Concentrated and Purified by Differential Centrifugation

Abstract

Influenza virus vaccines containing from 1 to 10 mg. of virus materials per cc. concentrated and purified from infectious allantoic fluids by means of one or two cycles of differential centrifugation and inactivated by different treatments have been prepared and subjected to laboratory tests. Suitable inactivation of the virus preparations with retention of full red cell agglutinating activity and immunizing potency in mice was achieved by treatment with minimal amounts of formaldehyde or ultraviolet light. Treatment with phenol or chloroform failed to cause adequate loss of virus activity. Excessive amounts of formaldehyde or of ultraviolet light were found to cause a loss in red cell agglutinating activity and in immunizing potency. Freezing resulted in the immediate loss of red cell agglutinating activity of the formalinized vaccine. Storage of the vaccines in the frozen state was accompanied by a gradual decrease in red cell agglutinating activity. Drying of the vaccines from the frozen state resulted in a loss of red cell agglutinating activity and, in the case of the formalinized vaccine, in a loss in immunizing potency. There appeared to be at least a rough correlation between red cell agglutinating activity and immunizing potency. The immunizing potency and red cell agglutinating activity of a purified formalinized vaccine containing 2 mg. of virus material per cc. were unchanged following 2 months' storage at 4° but were measurably decreased following storage for 2 months at 18 to 25° and at 37°. At equivalent dosages of virus material the immunizing potency of formalinized centrifugally purified virus, of formalinized virus purified by the red cell elution method, and of infectious allantoic fluid was not measurably different. The immunizing potency of a formalinized polyvalent vaccine containing centrifugally purified Lee, PR8, and Weiss influenza virus materials at concentrations of 5, 2.5, and 2.5 mg. per cc., respectively, was found to be essentially the same as that of a similar vaccine prepared commercially. In both cases the protection afforded against the Weiss strain appeared to be better than that against the Lee and PR8 strains. The commercially prepared vaccine is being subjected to clinical tests in man at dosage levels ranging from 0.01 mg. to 10 mg. The latter corresponds to a level approximately 100 times that of infectious allantoic fluid. It was found that the bacterial contamination that frequently accompanies operation on a large scale can be controlled by the addition of one part per 10,000 of formalin plus one part per 100,000 of phenyl mercuric nitrate to the allantoic fluid immediately following harvesting, without affecting the quality of the vaccine. This procedure and the use of virus materials purified and concentrated by a single cycle of differential centrifugation by means of the Sharples centrifuge were found to be suitable for the production of influenza virus vaccines on a large scale. By means of this method influenza vaccines possessing 20 or more times the immunizing potency of infectious allantoic fluid and 10 or more times the immunizing potency of the usual commercial vaccine prepared by the red cell elution method can be manufactured rapidly on a very large scale with considerable ease and efficiency.

The Purification of Antibody to PR8 Influenza A Virus

“…Friedenreich [10] carried out extensive studies of the phenomenon and demonstrated the enzymatic nature of the agent. In the ensuing years twenty-one cases have been reported which are believed by some to be the examples of the occurrence of this phe nomenon in vivo [18,11,1,2,9,14,19,15,12,25,22,27,20,13]. The validity of the relationship of these cases to the Thomsen-Friedenreich phenomenon will be discussed later.…”

“…PR8-infected chicken allantoic fluid was purified by differential ultracentri fugation [25] followed by dialysis of the pellets against 0.15 M sodium chloride (referred to as saline). The extinction coefficient E using an extinction coefficient E (280 mp) of 15 [7].…”

“…Another purification procedure was introduced, which was based on the adsorp tion of virus [25] on a stroma-resin complex. The latter was prepared as previously described [13].…”

The Purification of Antibody to PR8 Influenza A Virus

“…Friedenreieh [lo] carried out extensive studies of the phenomenon and demonstrated the enzymatic nature of the agent. In the ensuing years twenty-one cases have been reported which are believed by some t o be the examples of the occurrence of this phenomenon in vivo [18,11,1,2,9,14,19,15,12,25,22,27,20,131. The validity of the relationship of these cases t o the Thomsen-Friedenreich phenomenon will be discussed later.…”

The Purification and Concentration of Influenza Virus by Means of Alcohol Precipitation

“…46: 2156-2159(Oct. 1, 1946 The widespread use of the chick embryo for the cultivation of viruses and the markedly increased use of antigenic materials from this source for human vaccination make it desirable that influeniza virus obtained from chick embryos be highly refined in order to eliminate or reduce the possibilities of sensitizing human beings to chickembryo proteins. Of the various methods that have been devised to concentrate influenza virus so as to secure a more potent preparation for use as an immunizing vaccine, the one developed by Stanlev (1,2) and by Taylor et al (3), in which the Sharples Laboratory's SuperCentrifuge is used, appears to be the method of choice for obtaining concentrated and purified preparations relatively free from large amounts of inactive nonviral protein.…”