Formulation technologies for oral vaccines

Many options now exist for constructing oral vaccines, which, in experimental systems, have shown themselves to be able to generate highly effective immunity against infectious diseases. Their suitability for implementation in clinical practice, however, for prevention of outbreaks particularly in LMIC, is not always guaranteed, because of factors such as cost, logistics, and cultural and environmental conditions. This brief overview provides a summary of the various approaches which can be adopted, and evaluates them from a pharmaceutical point of view, taking into account potential regulatory issues, expense, manufacturing complexity etc., all of which can determine whether a vaccine approach will be successful in the late stages of development. Attention is also drawn to problems arising from inadequate diet, which impacts on success in stimulating effective immunity, and identifies use of lipid‐based carriers as a way to counteract the problem of nutritional deficiencies in vaccination campaigns

Phenotypic characterisation of regulatory T cells in dogs reveals signature transcripts conserved in humans and mice

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are a double-edged regulator of the immune system. Aberrations of Tregs correlate with pathogenesis of inflammatory, autoimmune and neoplastic disorders. Phenotypically and functionally distinct subsets of Tregs have been identified in humans and mice on the basis of their extensive portfolios of monoclonal antibodies (mAb) against Treg surface antigens. As an important veterinary species, dogs are increasingly recognised as an excellent model for many human diseases. However, insightful study of canine Tregs has been restrained by the limited availability of mAb. We therefore set out to characterise CD4+CD25high T cells isolated ex vivo from healthy dogs and showed that they possess a regulatory phenotype, function, and transcriptomic signature that resembles those of human and murine Tregs. By launching a cross-species comparison, we unveiled a conserved transcriptomic signature of Tregs and identified that transcript hip1 may have implications in Treg function