Nanotechnologies enable the creation of a nasal vaccine against hepatitis B

A new non-injectable hepatitis B immunization strategy has been developed by researchers atthe Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (CNC) of the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Coimbra in collaboration with the University of Geneva. The formula is a nasalsprayvaccine.

Hepatitis B is an infectious disease transmitted through exposure to the blood or bodily fluids of a person carrying the HBV virus. After infection, the virus affects liver cells and can lead to the death of the patient. The World Health Organization estimates that diseases associated with hepatitis B are responsible for the deaths of 780,000 people worldwide each year.

In developing countries where financial and human resources are scarce to support the costs of administering injectable vaccines, nasal immunization is a more economical and safer alternative. This therapy also eliminates the risks of infection caused by the reuse of syringes in the administration of injectables.

Olga Borges, a researcher at the CNC's Vector and Gene Therapy Group and one of the coordinators of this project, explains that the genetic vaccine designed in the form of a nasal spray has a composition based on "plasmids." These are molecules that are theoretically more resistant to changes in body temperature, which transmit genetic information (DNA) into cells, activating defense mechanisms against the hepatitis B virus. In the process, the therapeutic molecules are transported in polymeric nanoparticles from the nasal mucosa to the interior of the cells.

In the CNC press release, the researcher highlights the possibilities opened up by the research. "The nanoparticles developed could also be used in the composition of vaccines that prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), because they induce the production of antibodies by our body in the vaginal mucosa more effectively than injectable vaccines,"she says.

The process of inducing antibodies via the nasal route was tested on mice, which responded immunologically to this formulation. It was demonstrated that the nasal route allows for "a greater capacity to induce antibodies in the mucosa of the reproductive organs"compared to the oral route.

This line of research began in 2003 with the development of nanoparticles for the production of non-injectable vaccines. In 2012, it was funded by the FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) as part of R&D projects in the field of Bioengineering, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry.

The study has been published in the renowned scientific journal “Molecular Pharmaceutics."

More information at: 

Press release Nasal spray against hepatitis B| Center for Neuroscience and Biology (CNC)

Article“Intranasal Administration of Novel Chitosan Nanoparticle/DNA Complexes Induces Antibody Response to Hepatitis B Surface Antigen in Mice” | Molecular Pharmaceutics