Nasal Vaccination with the 40-Kilodalton Outer Membrane Protein of Porphyromonas gingivalis and a Nontoxic Chimeric Enterotoxin Adjuvant Induces Long-Term Protective Immunity with Reduced Levels of Immunoglobulin E Antibodies

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this study, we demonstrated that the 40-kDa outer membrane protein of Porphyromonas gingivalis (40-kDa OMP) nasally administered with a nontoxic chimeric adjuvant that combines the A subunit of mutant cholera toxin E112K with the pentameric B subunit of heat-labile enterotoxin from enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (mCTA/LTB) elicited a long-term protective immune response. Immunization with the 40-kDa OMP and mCTA/LTB induced high levels of 40-kDa-OMP-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgA antibodies (Abs) in sera and elicited a significant IgA anti-40-kDa OMP Ab response in saliva. These Ab responses were maintained for at least 1 year after the immunization. Although using adjuvant mCTA/LTB gave Ab responses in the saliva comparable to those obtained using native cholera toxin (nCT) as the adjuvant, the levels of total IgE and 40-kDa-OMP-specific IgE Abs as well as interleukin-4 levels induced by the immunization with mCTA/LTB were lower than those induced by the immunization with nCT. Importantly, IgG Abs generated by nasal immunization with the 40-kDa OMP plus mCTA/LTB inhibited the coaggregation and hemagglutinin activities of P. gingivalis . Furthermore, the mice given nasal 40-kDa OMP plus mCTA/LTB showed a significant reduction of alveolar bone loss caused by oral infection with P. gingivalis even 1 year after the immunization compared to the loss in unimmunized mice. Because mCTA/LTB is nontoxic, nasally administered 40-kDa OMP together with mCTA/LTB should be an effective and safe mucosal vaccine against P. gingivalis infection in humans and may be an important tool for the prevention of chronic periodontitis.