Factors influencing the immunogenicity of the haptenic drug chlorhexidine in mice. II. The role of the carrier and adjuvants in the induction of IgE and IgG anti-hapten responses.

The roles of carrier and adjuvant in the induction of primary antibody responses to the haptenic drug chlorhexidine (which interacts only electrostatically with proteins) and its N-chlorinated derivative (which binds covalently to proteins) were investigated. N-chloro chlorhexidine, covalently linked to either ovalbumin, KLH, thaumatin, LPS-associated protein or human serum protein, but not autologous mouse serum protein or LPS itself, induced both IgE and IgG anti-chlorhexidine antibody synthesis when injected, with alum adjuvant, into BALB/c mice. Bordetella pertussis (BP) could function as both carrier and adjuvant, but no response was obtained by injection of N-chloro chlorhexidine alone or with alum adjuvant. The immunogenicity of N-chlorinated chlorhexidine was directly related to the degree of its substitution onto the carrier which, in turn, was proportional to the level of chlorine (mM) employed. Chlorine also affected the immunogenicity of the various carriers. In the absence of chlorine, chlorhexidine induced only low level IgG antibody synthesis, but only if presented in a 'pseudoplurivalent' form, as a chlorhexidine-mediated protein precipitate (with alum) or electrostatically bound to a particulate carrier such as BP.