[Evaluation of the immunological activity and safety of group B meningococcal vaccine prepared from a natural complex of specific polysaccharide and outer membrane proteins].

Immunological activity and safety of group B meningococcal vaccine prepared from a natural complex of specific polysaccharide and outer membrane proteins were under study. The immunological safety of the vaccine was evaluated by the absence of antibodies to denaturated and native DNA (d-DNA and n-DNA). As shown with the use of the enzyme immunoassay (EIA), the administration of the vaccine did not induce antibody formation to d-DNA and n-DNA during the observation period.

[The molecular parameters of a meningococcal serogroup B protein-polysaccharide vaccine].

Methods for the evaluation of the molecular parameters of B polysaccharide (B-PS) in meningococcal protein-polysaccharide vaccine of group B are proposed. The comparison of two proposed methods, the passive hemagglutination inhibition test and rocket immunoelectrophoresis (RIEP), has shown that the latter method has the highest degree of correlation with the chemical method of the detection of B-PS, which is often hindered by lactose added as a bulking agent. RIEP may be recommended for the standardization and control of the commercial preparations of group B meningococcal vaccine.

[The effect of the conditions for Neisseria meningitidis cultivation on the protein composition in the protein-polysaccharide complex--the base of meningococcal serogroup B vaccine].

New data concerning the influence of cultivation conditions on the synthesis aimed at producing immunologically active antigens of group B Neisseria meningitides were obtained. The combination of conditions (deficiency in ions of iron, pH of the medium, growth phase of the culture) capable of essentially increasing (9- to 28-fold) the content of iron-dependent protein with a mol. wt.

[The isotypic characteristics of antibodies in persons inoculated with a serogroup-A meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine].

In this work the results of the study of specific antibodies (Ab), isotypes IgM, IgG, IgA, types kappa and lambda, in 235 serum samples from 27 adults immunized with group A meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine (AMPV) in a single injection of 50 microg and from 20 control subjects are presented. The study was made by the method of sandwich EIA. The study revealed that in a month after the injection of the vaccine the intensive synthesis of IgA, IgG and IgA Ab and their subsequent circulation for 2 years were observed; 3 years after immunization (the term of observation) the prevalence of IgG and IgA antibodies was registered.

[The relationship between the immunological efficacy of a dried meningococcal group-A polysaccharide vaccine and the molecular parameters of the group-A polysaccharide].

This work deals with the problem of relationship between the molecular parameters of group A meningococcal polysaccharide and its immunological effectiveness for laboratory animals and humans. The depolymerization of group A polysaccharide contained in the vaccine leads to a decrease in its capacity of inducing the production of hemagglutinating (19S and 7S) and bactericidal IgA antibodies in humans, as well as inducing an increase in the number of cells producing IgA antibodies in the spleen of immunized mice and the appearance of circulating IgA antibodies in their sera. As shown in this investigation, fully developed immune response to group A meningococcal vaccine may be achieved in humans only if the content of group A high-molecular polysaccharide in the vaccine is not less than 70%.