Thymosin α1 continues to show promise as an enhancer for vaccine response

Abstract

Thymosin α1 (Tα1) is an immune-modulating peptide that can be expected to improve response to vaccinations, as stimulated dendritic cells and T cells can act in concert to increase antibody production along with an improved cytotoxic response from the T cells themselves. Tα1 demonstrated efficacy in preclinical studies; subsequently, it was shown to enhance response to vaccinations in difficult-to-treat populations, including individuals immune suppressed due to age or hemodialysis, and leading to a decrease in later infections. During the 2009 pandemic outbreak of H1N1 influenza, mouse and ferret studies confirmed that the use of higher doses of Tα1 allowed for fewer injections than those used in the previous clinical studies. In addition, a clinical study with Focetria™ MF59-adjuvanted monovalent H1N1 vaccine showed that treatment with Tα1 twice provided an earlier and greater response to the vaccine (P < 0.01).

Dual effect of Thymosin α 1 on human monocyte-derived dendritic cellin vitrostimulated with viral and bacterial toll-like receptor agonists

“…Furthermore, during the 2009 pandemic H1N1 outbreak, Ta1 was also successfully used as Flu vaccine enhancer [22].…”

“…This is also in light of the increasing interest gained in recent years by Ta1 as immune adjuvant for vaccines [22]. In particular, Ta1 therapeutic action was examined for its potential to enhance influenza virus (Flu) vaccine responses in difficult-to-treat individuals, such as those immune-suppressed due to age or hemodialysis, given that, despite a largely diffuse vaccination protocol, this virus still remains a prominent cause of morbidity and mortality in these populations [23].…”

Off-label therapy targeting pathogenic inflammation in COVID-19

“…Either in monotherapy or in combination with IFN-α, Tα1 has been approved in 30 countries for treatment of chronic viral infections, including chronic hepatitis, chronic hepatitis C, and HIV 13,14 . During the 2009 pandemic outbreak of H1N1 influenza, Tα1 provided an earlier and greater response to the vaccine in a clinical study with Focetria™ MF59adjuvanted monovalent H1N1 vaccine 15 . Interestingly, the use of Tα1 has also been claimed in SARS 16,17 .…”

Thymosins in multiple sclerosis and its experimental models: moving from basic to clinical application

“…Based on these data, Tα1 was then used for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B and C (Iino et al, 2005;You et al, 2006), cytomegalovirus infection (Bozza et al, 2007) and invasive aspergillosis (Romani et al, 2004). In addition, the post-marketing data on Zadaxin ® (SciClone) clearly confirmed Tα1 immunomodulatory activities and related therapeutic potential also in cancer (such as Hepatocellular carcinoma, lung cancer, and melanoma), infectious diseases (sepsis, infections after bone marrow transplant, lung infections including chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, Severe acute respiratory syndrome, and HIV) (King and Tuthill, 2016;Liu et al, 2016a;Matteucci et al, 2017;Jia et al, 2015) and improvement in immune responses of elderly immunocompromised patients (for example for enhancement of response to vaccines) (Tuthill et al, 2012).…”