Intranasal immunization with live recombinant Lactococcus lactis combined with heat-labile toxin B subunit protects chickens from highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus.

Development of safe and effective vaccines to prevent highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus infection is a challenging goal. Lactococcus lactis (L. lactis) is an ideal delivery vector for vaccine development, and it has been shown previously that oral immunization of encapsulated secretory L. lactis-hemagglutinin (HA) could provide complete protection against homologous H5N1 virus challenge in the mice model. While intranasal immunization is an appealing approach, it is now reported that secretory L. lactis-HA combined with mucosal adjuvant heat-labile toxin B subunit (LTB) could provide protective immunity in the chicken model. As compared to intranasal immunization with L. lactis-HA alone, L. lactis-HA combined with LTB (L. lactis-HA + LTB) could elicit robust neutralizing antibody responses and mucosal IgA responses, as well as strong cellular immune responses in the vaccinated chickens. Importantly, intranasal immunization with L. lactis-HA + LTB could provide 100% protection against H5N1 virus challenge. Taken together, these results suggest that intranasal immunization with L. lactis-HA + LTB can be considered as an effective approach for preventing and controlling infection of H5N1 virus in poultry during an avian influenza A/H5N1 pandemic.