Antibodies Elicited by Inactivated Propionibacterium acnes-Based Vaccines Exert Protective Immunity and Attenuate the IL-8 Production in Human Sebocytes: Relevance to Therapy for Acne Vulgaris

• Published in: Journal of investigative dermatology Vol. 128; no. 10; pp. 2451 - 2457
• Main Authors: Nakatsuji, Teruaki, Liu, Yu-Tsueng, Huang, Cheng-Po, Gallo, Richard L., Huang, Chun-Ming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.10.2008; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Acne; Acne Vulgaris - drug therapy; Animals; Antibiotics; Antibodies; Antibodies, Bacterial - immunology; Antibodies, Bacterial - therapeutic use; Bacterial Vaccines - immunology; Bacterial Vaccines - therapeutic use; Cell Line; Cytotoxicity; Dermatitis - microbiology; Dermatitis - prevention & control; Dermatology; Ear; Female; Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections - drug therapy; Heat; Humans; Immunity; Inflammation; Interleukin 8; Interleukin-8 - antagonists & inhibitors; Interleukin-8 - biosynthesis; Internet; Mice; Mice, Inbred ICR; Pathogens; Propionibacterium; Propionibacterium acnes; Propionibacterium acnes - immunology; Sebaceous Glands - metabolism; Sebaceous Glands - pathology; Skin; Vaccination; Vaccines; Vaccines, Inactivated - immunology; Vaccines, Inactivated - therapeutic use
• ISSN: 0022-202X; 1523-1747
• DOI: 10.1038/jid.2008.117

Propionibacterium acnes is a key pathogen involved in the progression of inflammation in acne vulgaris. We examined whether vaccination against P. acnes suppressed P. acnes-induced skin inflammation. Inactivation of P. acnes with heat was employed to create a P. acnes-based vaccine. Intranasal immunization in mice with this inactivated vaccine provoked specific antibodies against P. acnes. Most notably, immunization with inactivated vaccines generated in vivo protective immunity against P. acnes challenge and facilitated the resolution of ear inflammation in mice. In addition, antibodies elicited by inactivated vaccines effectively neutralized the cytotoxicity of P. acnes and attenuated the production of proinflammatory cytokine IL-8 in human sebocyte SZ95 cells. Intranasal immunization using heat-inactivated P. acnes-based vaccines provided a simple modality to develop acne vaccines. These observations highlight the concept that development of vaccines targeting microbial products may represent an alternative strategy to conventional antibiotic therapy.