Effect of oligosaccharide chain length, exposed terminal group, and hapten loading on the antibody response of human adults and infants to vaccines consisting of Haemophilus influenzae type b capsular antigen unterminally coupled to the diphtheria protein CRM197.

Vaccines consisting of oligosaccharide (OS) derived from Haemophilus influenzae type b capsular polysaccharide and conjugated to carrier proteins had been shown capable of eliciting memory-type capsular polysaccharide of H. influenza type b antibody responses in human infants, but the structural variables governing immunogenicity were not defined. Here a series of conjugates were made with the diphtheria protein CRM197 and with uniterminally coupled OS haptens that varied in chain length, exposed terminal residue, or multiplicity of loading as defined by ribose/protein ratio. Adults were given a single injection, 1-yr-old infants were given a two-injection sequence, and capsular polysaccharide of H. influenzae type b antibody responses were assessed by radioantigen binding. Vaccines C-4r, C-6r, and C-12r, in which ribitol-ended OS of mean length 4, 6, or 12 repeat units were coupled at low hapten loading, were about equally immunogenic (geometric means 2 to 5 micrograms/ml in infants, 5 to 9 micrograms/ml in adults). Vaccine C7p was made with a higher loading of OS having mean length 7 repeat units and having mainly phosphate monoester at the exposed termini Vaccine C-7R was made from a portion of C-7p by enzymatic removal of most of the terminal phosphates. Compared to the C-4r, C-6r, and C-12r series, vaccines C-7p and C-7R induced geometric means about 10-fold higher in adults and 20-fold higher in infants. Thus OS chain length (in the range studied) and exposed terminus are less critical variables in this system than the extent of hapten loading.