Vaccines and mucosal immunisation

The earliest attempts to protect humans against infectious diseases and tox ins were by administering foreign substances to mucosal membranes, predomin antly by the oral route. In the late 1880s, significant attention was given to the concept of 'local' immunisation. and the discipline of mucosal immu nology was born in the early 1900s. However, despite the early enthusiasm, progress has been slow, with few mucosal vaccines being efficacious. The co mplexities of mucosal immune regulation and the lack of appropriate antigen delivery systems which can access mucosal inductive sites, have remained s ubstantial obstacles. Recent studies demonstrating compartmentalisation of the common mucosal immune system create further challenges for the developm ent of organ-specific vaccines. In the 21st century, our knowledge of mucos al immunoregulatory mechanisms, coupled with new technology for antigen del ivery and immunomodulation will provide the necessary know-how to see the d evelopment and widespread use of mucosal vaccines for both preventative and therapeutic use. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.