AIMTo investigate the level of immune response and the immune mechanism of the single-dose hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-poly (d, l)-lactide-co-glicolide acid (PLGA) microspheres in BALB/c mice.

METHODSThree kind of HBsAg-PLGA microspheres, HBsAg-PLGA50/50-COOH microspheres, HBsAg-PLGA75/25 microspheres and HBsAg-PLGA50/50 microspheres, were prepared by double emulsion microencapsulation technique used three kinds of PLGA with different L/G ratio. The single-dose of HBsAg-PLGA microspheres was subcutaneously injected into BALB/c mice at the dose of 7.5 microg HBsAg per mouse. The conventional aluminum-adjuvant vaccine was subcutaneously injected at 0, 1 and 2 month as positive control. In certain time interval, the induced immune level of total antibody was detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). For subclass of IgG antibody and cytokines studies, the dose of HBsAg was 2.5 microg per mouse.

RESULTSThe HBsAg-PLGA microspheres could successfully induce a humoral immune response in BALB/c mice. Compared with the conventional aluminum-adjuvant vaccine, the antibody response of the HBsAg-PLGA50/50-COOH microspheres was significantly lower than the group received three injections of aluminum-adjuvant vaccine (P < 0.01) except for a higher priming response during the early 6 weeks. The results were ascribed to the relatively rapid degradation charactics of PLGA50/50-COOH polymer. The immune response for the HBsAg-PLGA50/50 microspheres and HBsAg-PLGA75/25 microspheres were comparable to the group administered with aluminum-adjuvant vaccine (P > 0.05) which was due to the sustained degradation of PLGA50/50 and PLGA75/25 polymer.

CONCLUSIONThe HBsAg-PLGA microsphere is a promising candidate for the controlled delivery of a vaccine which does not require multiple injections.