Immunogenicity Of A Novel DNA Vaccine Encoding Middle Hepatitis B Surface Antigen In Rhesus Macaques

Background and objective:Chronic infections with HBV is worldwide problems which have a high risk of development of cirrhosis and hepato-cellular carcinoma. The antiviral drugs for HBV act with the critical stages of virus replication, but they only rarely eliminate the viral cccDNA form, which is responsible for the persistence of infection. Recent data indicates that therapeutic immunizations stimulating both cellular and humoral immune responses to HBV antigens are essential to cure chronic HBV infection. In this regard, DNA-based vaccination appears as a particularly pertinent approach for chronic hepatitis B therapy.Many studies have provided evidence that DNA vaccine encoding HBsAg is extremely immunogenic, and it may be a promising candidate for control of chronic HBV infection. We have investigated the immunogenicity of the novel DNA vaccine pSW3891/MHBs encoding middle hepatitis B virus surface antigen (MHBs)in mice, however, the safety and immunogenicity in primates model are needed to be confirmed before clinical trials. In this study, we vaccinated rhesus macaques to observe the safety and the humoral and cellular immune responses induced by the novel DNA vaccine pSW3891/MHBs.