Immunopotentiating activity of an herbal adjuvant: its benefits thereof

Modern generation vaccines have poor immunogenicity and rely on adjuvants to potentiate their immunogenicity to generate a desired immune response. Adjuvants are macro-molecular complexes that enhance immunogenicity of antigens in vaccines, thereby playing an important role in vaccine formulation. The present study aims to develop a de-novo herbal adjuvant derived from a medicinal plant growing in adverse climatic conditions at high altitude. The adjuvant was compared with CFA and Alum. Animals were immunized with native, recombinant and conjugated proteins. The humoral immune response was measured in terms of antibody titers. A relative contribution of Th1/Th2 type was evaluated in terms of IgG1 & IgG2a isotyping and IFN-γ & IL4 levels. Splenocytes from mice immunized showed moderate T- cell recruitment in terms of cell proliferation. Antigen specific immunoglobulin levels were significantly enhanced by adjuvant at par with CFA & Alum. Therefore, this adjuvant could be substitute for oil and alum adjuvants.