Aerodynamic engineering of a pulmonary prime-pull vaccine against Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) remains the infectious disease with the highest mortality alongside HIV. Despite the existence of the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine there is an unmet need for an effective vaccine against pulmonary TB, the most common form of TB. Traditional vaccines were based on live-attenuated organisms, but nowadays the development of subunit vaccines is attracting the attention of researches largely as a result of the improved safety profile. However, many subunit vaccines lack potent immunogenicity, therefore the inclusion of an adjuvant within the subunit vaccine formulation may be required. Due to the optimal biological properties of the lipids, liposomes are extensively studied as delivery systems along with polymer-based particulate systems such as the well-known poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) family (PLGA). The cationic liposomal adjuvant formulation (CAF) 01, which is based on the cationic surfactant dimethyldioctadecylammonium (DDA) bromide and the immunopotentiator trehalose 6,6'-dibehenate (TDB) from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, has previously been shown to be a strong adjuvant system against several diseases such as TB. CAF01 is commonly prepared by the thin film method which has several ... (continues)