Stahl-Hennig C, Kuate S, Franz M, Suh YS, Stoiber H, Sauermann U, Tenner-Racz K, Norley S et al. (2007): Atraumatic oral spray immunization with replication-deficient viral vector vaccines
J. Virol. 81 (23): 13180-13190. Epub Sep 26.

Development of needle-free vaccines is one of the recently defined "Grande Challenges in Global Health". To explore whether a natural pathway to the inductive site of the mucosa-associated lymphatic tissue could be exploited for atraumatic immunization purposes, replication-deficient viral vector vaccines were sprayed directly onto the tonsils of rhesus macaques. Tonsillar immunization with viral vector vaccines encoding simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) antigens induced cellular and humoral immune responses. Viral RNA levels after a stringent SIV challenge were reduced providing a similar level of protection as observed after systemic immunization with the same vaccines. Thus, atraumatic oral spray immunization with replication-deficient vectors can overcome the epithelial barrier, deliver the vaccine antigen to the mucosa-associated lymphatic tissue, and avoid induction of tolerance providing a novel approach to circumvent acceptability problems of syringe and needle vaccines in children and developing countries.