Protection against fatal Pseudomonas aeruginosa burn wound sepsis by immunization with lipopolysaccharide and high-molecular-weight polysaccharide.

A murine burn wound model was employed to evaluate the relative efficacy of purified Pseudomonas aeruginosa lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and high-molecular-weight polysaccharide as protective immunogens. LPS was found to be both highly immunogenic and protective. As little as three 0.001-microgram doses elicited good immunoglobulin M and G titers and increased the mean lethal dose more than 1,000-fold. The level of protection against a live challenge correlated with antibody titers and was found to be serotype specific. An immunizing regimen which evoked only an immunoglobulin M response was still found to offer substantial protection. Immunization with a high-molecular-weight polysaccharide was also found to be protective. However, approximately 1,000-fold more high-molecular-weight polysaccharide, as compared with LPS, was needed to protect mice to an equivalent degree. Immunization with LPS was found to promote bacterial clearance and prevent establishment of bacteremia. A multivalent LPS vaccine conferred high levels of protection (110- to 53,000-fold) against eight different challenge strains of various serotypes.