TOWARDS A MULTIPURPOSE MUCOSAL VACCINATION USING PHOSPHORYLCHOLINE ASA UNIQUE ANTIGEN

Intestinal and pulmonary bacterial infections are a major cause of wor ldwide child mortality. The development of a sole plurispecific vaccin e against those infections is a World Health Organization priority. In that respect, we hypothesized that immunization with phosphorylcholin e, a ubiquitous antigen present on different pathogenic microorganisms , might be an original approach. Our vaccine is constituted of phospho rylcholine coupled to a protein carrier and entrapped in biodegradable microspheres. This vaccine is stable and adequate for oral or intrana sal immunization and thus for the stimulation of the common mucosal im mune system. Vaccinated animals were statistically protected against e ither a lethal oral challenge by Salmonella typhimurium, or a lethal n asal challenge by Streptococcus pneumoniae. The results constitute a s trong impetus to explore the potentialities of our candidate vaccine.