However, little is known about the relative immunogenicity of pandemic (H1N1) 2009

vaccines and how immune responses to them might be affected by prior immunization against seasonal influenza strains. In preparation for clinical studies, we initiated mouse studies designed to investigate the immunogenicity of a candidate selleck chemicals llc pandemic (H1N1) 2009 vaccine in mice in experiments designed to assess the potential requirements for use of an adjuvant, antigen dose, and the immunization regimen. In these studies, we included groups of naïve mice and mice primed against seasonal influenza strains to model the human population, which includes persons who have been primed to seasonal influenza through infection or vaccination as well as individuals with no prior exposure to influenza (usually young children). Three groups of 40 6-week-old female BALB/c mice received a single intramuscular (i.m.) injection of one of two formulations of TIV (Vaxigrip®, sanofi pasteur, Lyon, France). The first seasonal vaccine formulation (TV1) was prepared using the 2005–2006 DAPT molecular weight Northern Hemisphere formulation containing the strains A/New Caledonia/20/99 (H1N1), A/NewYork/55/2004 (H3N2) and B/Jiangsu/10/2003. The second seasonal vaccine formulation (TV2) was prepared using the 2009–2010 Northern Hemisphere formulation containing

the strains A/Brisbane/59/2007 (H1N1), A/Uruguay/716/2007 (H3N2) and B/Brisbane/60/2008. In mice, the A/New Caledonia/20/99 (H1N1) strain had been previously shown to induce low homologous hemagglutinin inhibition (HI) titers (mean < 80), while the A/Brisbane/59/2007 (H1N1) strain induced higher homologous HI titers (mean > 160) (sanofi pasteur, unpublished data). Therefore, we hypothesized that these two vaccine formulations might also differentially prime immune responses to the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 strain. Influenza-naïve control mice received injections of PBS. The use of influenza pre-immune animal models may be more representative of the effect of seasonal influenza pre-exposure in humans who are generally primed to influenza virus antigens due to prior influenza infection or vaccination. The vaccines were administered

at 1/10th of the human dose (1.5 μg of hemagglutinin (HA) per strain) to mimic the antigen dose required for the induction of residual priming in humans as reposted by Potter and Jennings [4]. Forty DNA ligase days post-TIV priming (designated as Day 0), vaccinated mice were divided into four subgroups of 10 animals each and were re-vaccinated with a monovalent inactivated pandemic H1N1 (2009) vaccine prepared using the NYMC X-179A (A/California/07/2009 H1N1) reassortant strain. Four formulations were evaluated: 3 μg HA or 0.3 μg HA, as 1/10th and 1/100th of the highest immunization doses used in clinical trials [5]; each HA dose was formulated with or without an oil-in-water emulsion adjuvant (AF03; sanofi pasteur, Lyon, France). All animals received a second injection of the identical vaccine formulation on Day 21.