Comparison of immunogenicity, efficacy and transcriptome changes of inactivated rabies virus vaccine with different adjuvants

Adjuvants have been proven to be very effective in enhancement of immune response of many antigens. However, few studies involved head-to-head comparison of their potentials in inactive rabies virus vaccine. In this study, we investigated two types of aluminum adjuvants and five other adjuvants (BLPs, AS02, AS03, MF59 and Poly I:C) on their capacity in enhancing the efficacy of rabies vaccine. The differences in immunogenicity and potency of rabies vaccines with different adjuvants were evaluated by immunizations in ICR mice. Compared with other adjuvants, nano-sized aluminum induced earlier and more vigorous production of rabies virus neutralizing antibodies and facilitated a more effective protection in the challenge test. Based on these results, to comprehensively and systematically explore the role of adjuvants in rabies vaccine immunization, blood samples from four groups were chosen to perform mRNA sequencing. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of groups were identified, both gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses were conducted for these DEGs. The results showed that there were significant differences in mRNA expression between the mice after immunization with different adjuvants, but the two aluminum adjuvant vaccines induced similar gene expression. Moreover, the data of enrichment analysis indicated that adjuvants were more advantageous in activating the pathways associated with antigen processing, presentation and initial immunity. These results revealed that adjuvants can be used as an enhancer in rabies vaccination, and nano-sized aluminum may be a candidate adjuvant for the development of more effective rabies vaccines. And these data also provide a basis for understanding the mechanisms underlying adjuvants enhancement of the immune response.