Vaccine efficacy of transcutaneous immunization with amyloid β using a dissolving micro needle array in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

Vaccine therapy for AD has recently attracted attention for treating this disorder. Injectable immunization using  Aβ1–42 as  an antigen showed therapeutic efficacy in mice. However, the clinical trial of this injected Aβ1–42 vaccine was stopped due to the incidence of meningoencephalitis caused by excess activation of Th1 cells infiltrating the brain as a serious adverse reaction. It has been suggested that transcutaneous immunization (TCI) is likely to elicit a Th2 dominant immune response and therefore avoid Th1 mediated inflammation. In this study, the investigators tested the efficacy of an Aβ1–42-containing TCI- vaccine using a novel dissolving micro needle array (MicroHyala; MH). And the Tg APPPS1 Mouse model of AD. MH-based TCI induced anti-Aβ1–42 immune responses by simple and low-invasive application of Aβ1–42-containing MH to the skin. The TCI system was found to have significant advantages because it is a simple, easy-to-use, painless, and minimally invasive vaccination method. This TCI system resulted in little significant improvement in cognitive function and in eliciting a Th2-dominant immune responses, suggesting the need for further modification.