The adjuvant activity of fatty acid esters. The role of acyl chain length and degree of saturation.

Water-in-oil emulsions of metabolizable fatty acid esters, with the non-toxic surfactant Pluronic L122 as emulsifying agent, potentiated the humoral response to bovine serum albumin and staphylococcal toxoid in the mouse. Adjuvant activity was increased by changing the chemical nature of the esters as follows: (i) using a series of ethyl esters, adjuvant activity appeared when the acyl chain length of the fatty acid component was 16 or greater; (ii) isobutyl and isopropyl esters of palmitic acid (C16:0) were superior to ethyl; (iii) the ethyl esters of oleic (C18:1) and linoleic (C18:2) acids were better than stearic (C18:0). Since emulsions prepared with longer chain saturated esters are very viscous or solid at room temperature, and unsaturated esters are chemically reactive, emulsions were prepared with differing proportions of ethyl caprate (C10:0) and butyl stearate. At a ratio of 9:1 the emulsions possessed the low viscosity of ethyl caprate, but gained the adjuvant activity of butyl stearate. 125I-labelled BSA was retained in the footpad to a significantly greater extent than with a caprate emulsion, but reasons are given for believing that slow release of antigen is not the only mechanism of adjuvant activity. The ester emulsions caused more acute but less chronic local inflammation (footpad swelling) than Freund's incomplete adjuvant.