Lysed BCG vaccines. 2. The effect of lysis on the immunogenicity and allergenicity of BCG vaccines.

The authors have attempted to prepare lysed BCG vaccines retaining the protective antigens of the BCG cell wall and yet eliciting in experimental animals limited sensitivity to the tuberculin substances, the advantage sought being to retain the usefulness of the tuberculin following vaccination as an indicator of superinfection.Experimental vaccines were prepared by growing and lysing BCG in both Dubos and Aldridge liquid media with glycine, lysosyme and lithium chloride; vaccines were also prepared by autolysis in Aldridge nitrogen-deficient, chemically defined medium.Glycine, lysozyme and lithium chloride significantly reduced both the protective and allergenic properties of the lysates. The best protection was afforded by BCG cells autolysed in Aldridge medium. Treatment of the BCG autolysates with lysozyme alone did not affect the protective capability of the vaccines and almost completely eliminated the allergenicity. It is suggested that these BCG lysates contain metabolically inactive cells, which do not multiply in vitro but may still provide sufficient antigen in vivo to ensure protection.