Induction of antibody responses in mice immunized intranasally with Type I interferon as adjuvant and synergistic effect of chitosan

Type I IFNs are a range of host-derived molecules with adjuvant potential; they have been used for many years in the treatment of cancer and viral hepatitis. Therefore, the safety of IFNs for human use has been established. In this study, we evaluated the mucosal adjuvanticity of IFN-beta administered intranasally to mice with diphtheria toxoid, and suggested a method to improve its adjuvanticity. When IFN-beta alone was used as a mucosal adjuvant, no clear results were obtained. However, simultaneous administration of IFN-beta and chitosan resulted in an enhancement of the specific serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgA antibody responses, the mucosal IgA antibody response, and antitoxin titers. Furthermore, the intranasal administration of IFN-alpha alone resulted in a greater increase in antibody titer than IFN-beta, and a synergistic effect with chitosan was also observed. These findings suggest that intranasal administration of chitosan and Type I IFNs may display an effective synergistic mucosal adjuvant activity.