IMPROVEMENT OF SPECIFIC CHOLERA PREVENTION USING IMMUNOMODULATORS
Authors: Filippenko A. V. , Omelchenko N. D. , Pasyukova N. I. , Trufanova A. A. , Ivanova I. A. 
Published: October 2021

It is known that the combined use of vaccines, cytokines and various immunomodulatory drugs contributes to the development of a full-fledged immune response. This approach makes it possible to enhance the immunogenicity of modern vaccines and to direct the development of immune responses according to the humoral or cellular type, depending on the properties of the pathogen of a particular disease. The improvement of preventive drugs due to their combined use with cytokines and immunomodulators increases the intensity of immunity, increases the level of production of specific immunoglobulins, the protectivity of antigens, and also reduces the manifestation of adverse reactions leading to post-vaccination complications.

Immunomodulators are already successfully used in drugs intended for the treatment and prevention of chronic herpes infections and influenza vaccines. Numerous experimental and clinical data indicate a positive effect of the use of immunomodulatory drugs in the vaccination of various viral and bacterial infections, including particularly dangerous ones.

Improving the specific prevention of cholera can be achieved through immunomodulatory agents that can stimulate the formation of a local and systemic immune response.

We conducted a comparative assessment of the feasibility of the combined use of the cholera bivalent chemical vaccine (the Federal Government Health Institution Antiplague Research Institute “Microbe”) and immunomodulators in order to increase the effectiveness of cholera vaccination.

Since the cholera vaccine causes the activation of the humoral immune response, the production of specific immunoglobulins in the body of vaccinated experimental animals and the effect of immunomodulators on this process at different times of the post-vaccination period were evaluated.

The ability of immunomodulators to increase the protective activity of the cholera vaccine was studied by infecting animals with a virulent strain of cholera one month and seven months after vaccination.

It was found that immunomodulators increase the immunogenicity and protectivity of antigens that are part of the anti-cholera vaccine. The use of all immunopreparations increases the production of specific immunoglobulins in the serum of vaccinated experimental animals. It was shown that in the first month after vaccination, polyoxidonium most effectively stimulated the formation of antibodies, but lycopide contributed to a longer retention of anti-cholera immunoglobulins in the serum of vaccinated rabbits. The combined use of the vaccine and lycopide prevented the development of cholera in all animals taken in the experiment, including those vaccinated with a reduced dose. In the long-term post-vaccination period, this immunomodulator increased the protectiveness of the anti-cholera vaccine by three times. Polyoxidonium and derinate also increased the protective effect of the cholera vaccine, but were slightly inferior to lycopide. The combined use of cholera vaccine and immunomodulators, especially lycopide, can be used to improve specific cholera prevention.