Vaccination of Seronegative Volunteers with a Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 env/rev DNA Vaccine Induces Antigen-Specific Proliferation and Lymphocyte Production of β-Chemokines

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases 2000-02, Vol.181 (2), p.476-483
• Main Authors: Boyer, Jean D., Cohen, Adam D., Vogt, Suzanne, Schumann, Kristen, Nath, Brett, Ahn, Lois, Lacy, Kim, Bagarazzi, Mark L., Higgins, Terry J., Baine, Yaela, Ciccarelli, Richard B., Ginsberg, Richard S., MacGregor, Rob Roy, Weiner, David B.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: AIDS Vaccines - administration & dosage; AIDS Vaccines - immunology; AIDS/HIV; Antigens; Biological and medical sciences; Chemokines; Chemokines, CC - biosynthesis; DNA; DNA vaccines; env gene; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genes, env; Genes, rev; HIV; HIV 1; HIV Seronegativity - immunology; HIV-1 - immunology; Human immunodeficiency virus 1; Humans; Immune response; Lymphocyte Activation; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes - immunology; Major Articles; Microbiology; rev gene; T lymphocytes; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic - immunology; Vaccination; Vaccines, antisera, therapeutical immunoglobulins and monoclonal antibodies; Vaccines, DNA - administration & dosage; Vaccines, DNA - immunology; Virology
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1086/315229

There is a pressing need to test novel vaccine concepts in an effort to develop an effective vaccine for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1. A phase I clinical study was done to test the immunogenicity of an HIV env/rev DNA vaccine, which was administered intramuscularly to HIV-1-seronegative persons. Subjects received 3 doses of vaccine at a single concentration (100 or 300 µg) at 0, 4, 8, and 24 weeks. In at least 1 of multiple assays, the 6 subjects who received the 300-µg dose had DNA vaccine-induced antigen-specific lymphocyte proliferative responses and antigen-specific production of both interferon-γ and β-chemokine. Furthermore, 4 of 5 subjects in the 300 µg-dose group responded to both the rev and env components of the vaccine. The responses did not persist within inoculated individuals and scored in different individuals at different times in the trial. This study supports that HIV-1 DNA vaccine antigens can stimulate multiple immune responses in vaccine-naive individuals, and it warrants additional studies designed to enhance DNA vaccine immunogenicity.