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A Brandenburg

Publications and source records attributed to A Brandenburg.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

The immunostimulating complex (ISCOM) is an efficient mucosal delivery system for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) envelope antigens inducing high local and systemic antibody responses.

ISCOM is an efficient mucosal delivery system for RSV envelope proteins as measured by antibody responses in respiratory tract secretions and in sera of mice following two intranasal (i.n.) administrations. Intranasally administered RSV ISCOMs induced high levels of IgA antibodies both in the upper respiratory tract and in the lungs. In the lungs, a prominent and long-lasting IgA response was recorded, which still persisted 22 weeks after the second i.n. immunization when the experiment ended. Subcutaneous (s.c.) immunization only induced low IgA titres in the upper respiratory tract and no measurable response to RSV was found in the lungs. Differences were also noticed in serum between the i.n. and s.c. modes of immunization. ISCOMs given intranasally induced earlier, higher and longer lasting IgM and IgG1 serum anti-RSV antibody responses than those induced by the s.c. mode of administration. A low serum IgE response was only detectable at 2 weeks after i.n. immunization with ISCOMs and after s.c. immunization with an inactivated virus, but no IgE response was detectable after s.c. injection of ISCOMs. The serum IgA response was more pronounced following s.c. injection of inactivated virus than after i.n. application of ISCOMs, and a clear-cut booster effect was obtained with a second immunization. Virtually no serum IgA response was detected after the s.c. administration of ISCOMs. In conclusion, the high immune responses induced by RSV ISCOMs in the respiratory tract and serum after i.n. administration indicate prominent mucosal delivery and adjuvant properties of the ISCOMs, warranting further studies.

Administration, Intranasal

Differential antibody isotype reactivity to specific antigens in human lymphatic filariasis: gp15/400 preferentially induces immunoglobulin E (IgE), IgG4, and IgG2.

Lymphatic filarial infection in humans is associated with a strong skewing of the immune response towards the TH2 arm, with prominent interleukin 4-producing cells and elevated levels of immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4) and IgE antibodies in peripheral blood. To determine how such a generalized TH2 imbalance governs responses to individual parasite antigens, the profiles of isotypes of antibodies to two recombinant proteins of Brugia spp. were studied. One molecule was the C-terminal portion of the filarial heat shock protein 70 (Bpa-26), representative of a cytoplasmic protein, and the second antigen was a single unit of the tandem repeats of a Brugia polypeptide (BpL-4), a secreted product which is prominently exposed to the immune system. Serum samples from 146 individuals resident in areas in which brugian filariasis is endemic were used, and it was found that whereas the levels of IgG1 and IgG3 responses to both Bpa-26 and BpL-4 were high, IgG4 and IgE antibodies to only BpL-4, not to Bpa-26, were prominent. Thus, an antigen which is chronically exposed to the immune system elicited a TH2-dependent isotype switch, as manifested by increased IgG4 and IgE responses. Moreover, IgG4 and IgE responses to BpL-4 showed a strong negative association, suggesting that mediators other than interleukin 4 must be responsible for such differential regulation of these two isotypes. When the data were analyzed as a function of clinical status, a striking association between elevated levels of IgG3 antibodies to Bpa-26 and manifestation of chronic obstructive disease was found; elephantiasis patients showed significantly higher levels of IgG3 antibodies to Bpa-26 than microfilaremics and asymptomatic amicrofilaremics. This indicates that an imbalance of isotypes of antibodies to particular filarial antigens might play a role in the pathogenesis of chronic disease.

Adolescent

[Public health and citizen involvement--guidelines and general practice in Herne].

Health problems cannot be solved only by expanding medical and other systems of service. Limitations of these services are not only set by costs, but also by the disease patterns themselves. The traditional role of the patient must be redefined. It is necessary to develop personal health-coping strategies outside medical care, and for the citizen to participate in improving conditions of health in general. The public health system has the specific duty of initiating and establishing these new approaches to health promotion and coping with disease. A model for these new municipal health policies is presented with reference to medical practice in the city of Herne in the Ruhr area of Germany.

Community Participation

Efficient induction of Semliki Forest virus and mumps virus neutralizing anti-anti-idiotypic antibodies using Quil A as adjuvant.

Rabbit anti-idiotypic sera were prepared against Semliki Forest virus (SFV) neutralizing monoclonal antibody (MAb) UM 1.13 and mumps virus neutralizing MAb UM 10B. From these sera anti-idiotypic antibodies were purified by ammonium sulphate precipitation and subsequent affinity column chromatography. Anti-iso- and anti-allotypic antibodies were removed by binding to normal mouse serum immunoglobulins coupled to CNBr activated Sepharose. Peak protein fractions eluted from columns loaded with homologous MAb were used for anti-anti-idiotypic immunization of BALB/c mice to raise virus neutralizing anti-anti-idiotypic antibodies. Two intracutaneous immunizations, five weeks apart, with affinity purified rabbit polyclonal anti-idiotypic antibody (40 micrograms protein per animal) coupled to keyhole limpet hemocyanin and mixed with the adjuvant Quil A (50 microliters per animal) were sufficient to evoke neutralizing antibodies against either virus. Moreover the mice who developed SFV neutralizing serum antibodies upon anti-idiotypic immunization all survived an otherwise lethal challenge with virulent SFV.

Adjuvants, Immunologic