The present invention relates to the field of Immunology, specifically with the branch of Immuno-Allergy and in particular with the use of adjuvant or carrier compounds, capable of modulating the immune response to allergens. The technical objective that is pursued is to obtain a pharmaceutical preparation of therapeutic or prophylactic use using bacterial proteoliposomes, which transform the allergic response Th2 and IgE when being applied in allergic individuals, toward a protector response Th1; as well as it is able to prevent the appearance and the development of allergies in individuals non-allergic yet. The vaccine composition consists of proteoliposomes derived from Gram-negative bacteria coupled to allergens and optionally contains other adjuvants or antigens. The method for its preparation and an immunization scheme of two doses are provided.

Description of the Invention

PRIOR RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Cuban Patent Application 91/2002, filed May 8, 2002 and Patent Cooperation Treaty Application PCT/CU2003/00007, filed May 8, 2003, and incorporates the priority applications herein in their entireties by reference thereto.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of Immunology, specifically with the branch of Immuno-Allergy and in particular with the use of adjuvant or carrier compounds, capable of modulating the immune response to allergens. The aim is to induce changes in this specific response that can reduce or prevent its pathogenic effect.

Allergy is a very frequent pathology, mainly in the industrialized countries. In allergy intervenes several immunopathological mechanisms and particularly the so-called type I anaphylactic hypersensitivity. Physiopathogeny of type I hypersensitivity is based on the increased production of IgE, a cytotropic antibody. The IgE antibodies are raised against foreign substances, denominated allergens, after a first exposure, denominated sensitization.

IgE antibodies can bind to the IgE receptors on the surface of blood basophiles and tissue mast cells, prolonging their mean life from a few hours in blood to several months in tissues. Later contacts of the allergens with the cell-bound IgE antibodies can provoke the cross-linking of neighbor antibodies, which trigger a signal cascade to the cell cytoplasm, leading to cell degranulation and release of inflammatory mediators such as histamine, serotonine and kinines

The most common allergic diseases are rhinitis, asthma, and atopic dermatitis. Allergic asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder. In the immunopathogenesis of asthma are involved not only IgE dependent mechanisms (responsible for the Type 1 anaphylactic response), but also T-cells, and particularly the so-called Th2 cell subset. Th2 lymphocytes induce and maintain the inflammatory response by means of the recruitment and activation of other cells and particularly through IL-5 production, which is responsible for the recruitment and activation of Eosinophiles. Eosinophilia plays an important role in the development of bronchial hyperreactivity, which is an essential feature of asthma.

Common allergens are pollen, house dust mites, moulds, drugs, foods and animal hair and dander. Indoor allergens and specially, house dust mites, are a very relevant cause of respiratory allergy and asthma.

Clinical manifestations of allergic disorders are usually treated with anti-histaminics, .beta.-agonists, sodium chromoglicate and corticosteroids. These treatments are generally inadequate, because they are purely symptomatic and do not influence the ethiopathogeny of the disease. Nowadays, it is widely recognized the need of more effective treatment approaches, among them, specific immunotherapy or therapeutic vaccines.

2. Background of the Prior Art

Traditionally, the hyposensitization therapy with allergen extracts (also called specific immunotherapy) has been widely used in the treatment of allergic diseases. In this type of treatment, the patients are administered with periodical subcutaneous injections of the specific offending allergens. It is started injecting small allergen doses and if allergic reactions do not appear, the dose is increased. The injections are administered with a weekly frequency at the beginning; then, doses are gradually increased until reaching a maintenance dose at monthly or semimonthly frequency. This treatment should be maintained for several years (WHO Position Paper. Allergen Immunotherapy: Therapeutic Vaccines against Allergic Diseases. Geneva, January 1998).

In spite of the method is regarded as relatively effective for some allergic diseases, the immunotherapy has been questioned due to safety reasons. During this treatment, the patient can suffer from severe anaphylactic reactions, which eventually can be even fatal. In addition, the high number of injections to administer, that can be about 100-200 in 3 years, constitutes a serious drawback for its practical application. Poor patient compliance and premature abandonment of the treatment are frequent causes of lack of expected effectiveness.

In recent years, it has been a great progress in the understanding of the mechanisms of the induction of IgE immune response in allergic subjects. IgE production by B-cells is driven by specific mechanisms of the Th2 immune cell response, and particularly, it is induced by an overproduction of IL-4 by Th2 cells. The Th2 cells are involved pathologically not only through their regulatory role (IL-4 induces the class switch to IgE in B-lymphocytes, mediated by a contact signal provided by T-cells), but also participate directly in the effector phase of the delayed type allergic inflammatory response and in the asthmatic chronic inflammation.

The exposure to environmental allergens, in addition to the own genetic predisposition, constitutes the leading phenomenon of the allergic sensitization process and causes the triggering of allergic reactions.

The immunological mechanism responsible for clinical improvement of the patients during allergen immunotherapy is not totally explained yet. Nevertheless, it is known that several immunological changes take place, linked to a long-term decrease of allergen specific IgE: there is a decrease of IL-4 and IL-5 secretion and increase of IFN-.gamma. and IgG levels. These changes indicate a decrease of the Th2 response pattern, like a possible consequence of the induction of a non-pathogenic concurrent Th1 pattern (WHO Position Paper. Allergen Immunotherapy: Therapeutic Vaccines against Allergic Diseases. Geneva, January 1998).

The Th1/Th2 response patterns distinguish themselves firstly by the typical pattern of cytokines, secreted by Th-cells: namely IFN-.gamma. and IL-2 by Th1 and IL-4 and IL-5 by Th2 (Mossman, T. R., Cherwinski, H., Bond, M. W., Giedlin, M. To, and R. L. Coffman. 1986. Two types of murine T helper cell clones. I. Definition according to profiles of lymphokine activities and secreted proteins. J. Immunol. 136:2348-2357). On the other hand, it is also possible to determine the type of induced response determining serum Ig class/subclass profiles. Thus, murine Th1 pattern induces antibodies preferably of the IgG2 subclass (IFN-.gamma. dependent), whereas Th2 induces IgE and IgG1 subclass (IL-4 dependent). In humans, Th1 is linked to IgG1/IgG3 antibodies and Th2 to IgE.

Although the onset and development of Allergy are caused by environmental factors, the fundamental role in the propensity of an individual to develop a Th2/IgE response is of genetic order (Holgate ST. Environmental Genetic and interaction in allergy and Asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1999; 104:1139-1146). Therefore, the descendants of allergic parents will develop an allergic disease with a greater frequency than the children of non-allergic parents. This frequency has been estimated as 75, 50 and 25% if both parents, the mother or the father are allergic, respectively). That means that applying a diagnostic system to the parents, the behavior of an individual within the population, can be predicted with a high likelihood. Additionally, it is well known that the establishment of a pathological Th2 pattern occurs in the first 6-24 months of life. Environmental factors like exposition to bacterial infections can influence positively on the disease onset, inducing a Th1 pattern, which down-regulates the allergic Th2 pattern (Holt PG, Programming of Allergen Specific Th-memory during Childhood. Proceedings XVII International Congress of Allergology and Clinical Immunology. Sydney 2000. Allergy Clin Immunol International Suppl. 1, 2000 pp 83-85). These findings suggest the possibility of designing prophylactic anti-allergic vaccines, which could prevent the establishment of a Th2 response to allergens, in the early childhood. These vaccines could be based on Th1 adjuvants, which ideally should be effective during the breast-feeding period.

Several approaches have been attempted to improve allergen immunotherapy, aiming to reduce their negative aspects, preserving or extending their benefits. Particularly, it is known that several methods have been used in order to modify the allergens so that its allergenicity (i.e., its ability to be recognized by IgE antibodies) and ability to induce IgE antibodies following immunization could be reduced, as well as, to increase their immunogenicity (i.e. its capacity to induce a therapeutic or possibly protective response). Among them, there are physical methods by adsorption of allergens, creating a depot effect (adjuvants), or chemical methods aiming at modifying allergen molecules by means of covalent links with other compounds or between themselves.

Several physical agents have been used, among them: Tyrosine (Patent No. GB 1,377,074), Tyrosine Ester (U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,932); Liposomes (Patent Application WO 89/10753); Monophosforil Lipid A (MLA) (U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,943); Saponine (U.S. Pat. No. 4,432,969) and the traditional ones: Aluminum Hydroxide and Calcium Phosphate.

Among the chemical agents that have been used for allergen polymerization, are Formaldehyde (Marsch DG et al. Studies on allergoids from naturally occurring allergens. III Preparation of Ragweed pollen allergoids by aldehyde modification. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 1981; 68:449-59); Alginate (Corrado O J et al. Allergy 1989; 44:108-5) and Glutaraldehyde (Patent No. GB 1,282,163). Also, there have been used: MPEG (Dreborg et al. Crit Rev Ther Drug Carrier Syst. 1990; 6:315-65) and polysaccharide conjugates (European Patent Application No. EP 3497 008 A2).

These solutions could, in some cases (Eg. Glutaraldehyde polymerized allergens, Alum adjuvanted, Grammer et al., Modified forms of allergen immunotherapy, J Allergy Clin Immunol 1985; 44:108-15) increase the allergen-specific IgG titters in animal models. Nevertheless, the increase of this antibody class does not necessarily imply a clinical improvement of the patient, mainly if a parallel increase of IgE antibodies occurs. In fact, some IgG subclasses (IgG1 in mice and IgG4 in humans) are involved, also, in different allergic reactions, due to its ability to bind themselves, transitorily, to mast cell surface. On the other hand, clinical evidences in humans indicate that the increase of IgG antibodies is not correlated directly with clinical improvement, suggesting that these antibodies play only a secondary role in the regulatory mechanism, induced by the treatment (Rak S. Lowhagen O., Venge P. Bronchial The effect of immunotherapy on hyperresponsiveness and eosinophil cationic protein in pollen-allergic patients. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1988; 82:470-80 and Jutel M, Muller Or, Fricker M, Rihs S, Pichler W, Dahinden C. Influence of bee venom immunotherapy on degranulation and leukotriene generation in human blood basophiles. Clin Exp Immunol 1996; 12:1112-18)

Although, chemically modified allergens (so-called allergoids), has some advantages concerning the decrease of secondary adverse reactions during the treatment as compared to traditional allergen extracts, they do not produce a significant clinical improvement (Bousquet et al. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 1989; 84:546-56 and Grammer et al. J Allergy Clin Immunology 1985; 76:397-401). Another drawback of allergoids, used so far in clinical trials (modified by Glutaraldehyde or Formaldehyde), is the practical impossibility to obtain a standardized composition, since the final products are obtained by means of chemical reactions starting from allergen extracts, which are heterogeneous mixtures of polypeptides and other biomolecules. In these reactions, it cannot be avoided that molecular species with different degrees of polymerization or chemical modifications are formed, which can constitute unwanted, difficult to eliminate by-products.

The use of Aluminum Hydroxide has only managed to reduce the number of injections necessary to obtain the same effect that with the non-adjuvanted allergens, which is attributed to its depot and slow release effects. Nevertheless, it is known that this adjuvant stimulates IgE production, as much in animals as in humans, inducing a typical Th2 pattern, which could possibly reinforce the pathogenic allergic response, during its administration.

Calcium Phosphate and Tyrosine have also been used as adsorbents for creating a depot effect and slow release of the allergens. Nevertheless, these formulations have shown no significant advantages as compared to aqueous or Alum-adjuvanted extracts, regarding the effectiveness or safety of the treatment (Altintas D U et al. Comparison between the use of adsorbed and aqueous immunotherapy material in Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus sensitive asthmatic patients. Allergologie et Immunopathologie 1999; 27(6):309-317).

None of the existing at the present time, previously mentioned solutions could achieve completely effective immune modulation (expressed in inhibition or reduction of Th2 pattern or induction of Th1) neither in animals nor in humans, and no clinical effectiveness has been shown in patients, using a reduced number of injections.

The use of liposomes containing allergens has been described in the Patent Application WO 89/10753. It is regarded that liposomes, besides creating a depot and reducing allergenicity of the product, can influence the mechanisms of antigen presentation to the immune system, due to their lipidic and particulate nature (WHO Position Paper. Allergen Immunotherapy: Therapeutic Vaccines against Allergic Diseases. Geneva, January 1998). Nevertheless, this approach has several drawbacks that have hampered a wide introduction into the clinical practice. Among them: the lack of stability of these formulations and availability of a technology for inclusion of allergens into liposomes in a consistent way. The lack of stability of the liposome formulation during storage or administration to the patient has serious implications in the safety of the treatment, since the possible uncontrolled release of allergens from liposomes can cause severe anaphylactic reactions, similarly to allergens in aqueous form. Moreover, definitive evidences of the induction of an effective immune response, either that affects Th1/Th2 balance or that induces a non-pathological or protectogenic pattern, have not been obtained.

More recent approaches have tried to use allergen formulations with adjuvant inducers of Th1 response, such as Monophosforil Lipid A (MLA) (U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,943) and Heat Shock Proteins (HSP) also known as Mycobacterium Stress Proteins, which are described in the patent WO9823735. MLA, a detoxified variant of LPS, has been shown that reduces specific IgE and increases IgG levels, in experimental mice models. Nevertheless, it has not been demonstrated that it can effectively reduce the Th2 cellular component of the allergic response. Therefore, its use would be limited strictly to the allergic diseases for which the type 1 hypersensitivity mechanism is the main one, which would exclude asthma. Another major drawback is that, in spite of the fact that the toxicity of LPS has been attenuated, it has not been completely removed (Baldrick P et al. Vaccine 20, 2002 737-743), which could limit its use in small children. In the case of HSP, experimental evidences have not been provided, supporting that clinically relevant allergens mixed or conjugated to these proteins could produce a deviation of allergen-specific Th2 response, neither in animal models nor in humans.

The use of proteoliposomes derived from the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria has described for prophylactic vaccine formulations against infectious diseases, by Ruegg C L and cols. (Preparation of proteosome-based vaccines. J Immunological Methods 1990; 135:101-9); Lowell and cols. (Proteosome-Lipopeptide Vaccines Enhancement of Immunity for Malaria CS Peptides. Science 1988; 240:800-2); also in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,572. In this last case, the main core is an outer membrane proteoliposome or vesicle (OMV) derived from Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B. It is regarded that its particulate structure, lipo-oligosaccharide traces (LPS) incorporated into the OMV; polysaccharide C; lipid composition and adsorption into Alum, are relevant for its proven immunogenicity and protectogenicity in humans.

In spite of containing LPS, this vaccine formulation does not cause toxic effects neither in humans nor in animals, which is attributed to the OMV peculiar structure and composition. On the other hand, the immunomodulator and adjuvant effect of LPS could be retained.

The anti-meningococcal vaccine, based on this proteoliposome, has been successfully applied in more than 50 million doses, demonstrating to be safe, non-reactogenic and effective to protect against N. meningitidis serogroups B and C. Moreover, it can be applied safely during the breast-feeding period. It has been shown that it is able to turn the T-independent Polysaccharide C antigen into a T-dependent one. This vaccine induces a preferential Th1 pattern in humans and animals, characterized by the induction of lymphoproliferation; anti-OMV IgG antibodies (subclass IgG1 in humans and IgG2a in mice); IFN-.gamma., IL-2 and IL-12, both at protein and mRNA level. It does not induce anti-OMV IgE, neither increases total IgE levels, nor IL-4, IL-5; both, at protein or mRNA level (Infect Immun. 2001, 69(72001):4502-4508). The response induced by the vaccine, as it is usual for the adaptive immunity, is specific to the bacterial antigens contained in the product, and therefore, there are no evidences of induction of an immune response towards well-known common allergens.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to obtain a pharmaceutical composition for therapeutic or prophylactic purposes, based on the use of bacterial proteoliposomes. This composition, once applied into allergic patients, is able to transform the allergic Th2 response, induced by the allergen, towards a cellular Th1 response. The invention also relates to the immunization scheme using this vaccine composition. It is also an object of the present invention, to provide a pharmaceutical composition able to prevent the onset and development of the allergic disease in children with atopic familial history.

This composition can contain one or several allergens, which can be coupled to the proteoliposomes or be administered simultaneously with it, inducing a therapeutic or protective immune response, specific to the allergen. This response is characterized by a decreased production of IgE antibodies as compared to the traditional immunotherapy, the non-induction of IL-5, as well as the induction of IgG1 antibody subclass (in humans) and IgG2a (in mice), and IFN-.gamma. (in both). These features evidence the induction of a Th1 type immune response and the transformation of the allergenic Th2 response in to a cellular Th1.

It is still another object of this invention to provide the method for coupling allergen(s) to proteoliposomes and to other adjuvants, as well as to provide an appropriate pharmaceutical composition for its administration by parenteral route.

The novelty of the invention is firstly in the use of proteoliposomes derived from outer membrane proteins of Gram-negative bacteria and more specifically from Neisseria meningitidis B in conjunction with Aluminum Hydroxide. Thus, these proteoliposomes (alone or together with a polysaccharide) are coupled in a non-covalent or covalent way to one or several allergen proteins, adsorbed into the Aluminum Hydroxide gel, and, then, administered to allergic subjects.

It has a particular novelty, that this pharmaceutical composition induces a modulation of the specific immune response to the allergens included in it, towards a non-pathogenic and protective Th1 pattern, by using only two injections.

Another novel aspect is the prophylactic application of the pharmaceutical composition in the offspring of allergic parents or in early-diagnosed atopic individuals.

It is still novel, the procedure used in order to couple non-covalently the main components of the formulation and particularly: proteoliposomes to allergens, as well as the use of purified allergens for that purpose.

In the present invention, proteoliposomes or OMV, purified from Gram-negative bacteria culture, and particularly from N. meningitidis B, are used, as was described in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,572.

In the present invention, allergens of protein or glycoprotein nature are used preferably, although, it is possible also to use polysaccharide allergens. The allergens can be obtained from natural allergenic source materials, using well-known extraction and purification methods or can be obtained in recombinant form, by cloning and expression in microorganisms or higher organism cells. Alternatively, chemically synthesized polypeptides, according to the aminoacid sequence of the native allergens, can be used. Particularly, respiratory allergens are preferred: in the first place, from house dust mites belonging to Pyroglyphidae or Glyciphagidae families, especially belonging to Dermatophagoides or Blomia genus and specifically to Dermatophagoides siboney, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus or Dermatophagoides farinae species. Purified allergens of these mite species are obtained preferably from any available commercial allergenic extract, which is subjected first to freeze-drying or concentration by ultrafiltration up to 10-100 mg/mL protein content, and next to saline precipitation in 50-100% ammonium sulfate solution. The pellet is reconstituted in aqueous solution and fractionated by means of gel-filtration chromatography, using matrixes of composite cross-linked dextran/agarose, such as SUPERDEX.TM. 75, or matrixes of cross-linked copolymer of allyl dextran and N,N-methylenebisacrylamide, such as: SEPHACRYL.TM. S-100, SEPHACRYL.TM. S-200 or SEPHACRYL.TM. S-300. The peak corresponding to 10-60 kDa Molecular Weight, is collected. This fraction contains mainly Group 1 (25 kDa glycoprotein: Der s 1, Der p 1, Der f 1) and Group 2 (15 kDa protein: Der s 2, Der p 2, Der f 2) major allergens. Alternatively, a separate purification procedure can be followed for each major allergen, preferably using anti Group 1 and anti Group 2 Mab-affinity chromatography; then, both components can be added to the formulation to be coupled to the proteoliposomes, or alternatively, be coupled separately to it.

The coupling of both basic components (allergen and proteoliposome) is performed by covalent or non-covalent links. The choice can be made taking into account the features of each particular allergen. For non-covalent coupling, the mite allergens are embedded into proteoliposomes at a ratio of 0.1-1 .mu.g by 10 .mu.g of proteoliposome. This coupling method takes advantage of the hydrophobic and lipophylic interactions between both components; the process is performed by means of mechanical agitation at 60 to 600 rpm rotation speed, during 30-60 minutes. The obtained mix can be administered directly in aqueous solution or adsorbed into Alum Hydroxide gel. In the last case, the allergen can also be adsorbed into the gel prior to be coupled to proteoliposomes or preferably, be added after adsorbing proteoliposomes into the gel. The amount of Alum Hydroxide should be 10 to 25 times the amount of proteoliposome, keeping the afore-mentioned proportion between allergen and proteoliposome content. The adsorption process into the Alum gel is performed by means of agitation at 60-600 rpm and pH values ranging from 6 to 8.

The efficacy of allergen adsorption in to Alum gel can be monitored using Mab-ELISA, specific to major allergens, E.g. anti-Der s 1 ELISA (Sewer et al. Int Arch Allergy Immunol 2000; 123:242-248) and anti-Group 2 ELISA (Heymann P W, Chapman M D et al J Allergy Clin Immunol 1989; 83:1055-1067)

The coupling of allergen to proteoliposome can be performed also by a covalent link, using a cross-linker or spacer, which can be coupled to the available amino groups on the proteoliposome, followed by the coupling of the spacer Maleimide group to the free Sulfhydryl (SH) groups on to the allergen molecule. Such free SH groups are present in the mite major allergen proteins (Group 1 and 2), nevertheless, they can also be induced in other allergens by reducing the disulphide bridges or by derivatization of proteins by well-known chemical methods. The obtained conjugates are later purified by dialysis or ultrafiltration and finally by gel-filtration chromatography (Sephacryl S-300 or Superdex 200) in order to remove the conjugation reagents, as well as the non-bound allergens. Allergen molecules must constitute between 1 and 10% of the total mass of the conjugate, in order to induce a suitable immune response. Conjugates are administered by injectable route in an appropriate aqueous excipient or adsorbed into Alum Hydroxide gel or another suitable depot adjuvant.

The present invention also includes the conjugation, by the method described before, of lipofilic residues, such as bipolar fatty acids of 16 to 20 carbons, to the allergens, aiming to facilitate its non-covalent incorporation into the proteoliposome.

Alternatively, the vaccine composition may include other antigens, which do not affect the induced cellular pattern and strengthen the expected response to the allergen. Polysaccharides, and particularly polysaccharide C from N. meningitidis, can be used for this purpose. They are added in a non-covalent form to the formulation in a proportion of 0.5 to 4 times the amount of proteoliposome.

The present invention also comprises the use of allergens of polysaccharide nature. In that case, the allergens are added to the formulation in the same way as described for N. meningitidis polysaccharide C.

Unexpectedly, the administration of this vaccine composition by parentheral route in only two doses, induced, not only a specific Th1 response to the proteoliposome antigens, as was previously known, but also a similar Th1 response directed against the allergens included in the formulation. Surprisingly, this Th1 response prevails, in spite of using Alum Hydroxide in the formulation, preserving the depot effect. This response is characterized by a cytokine pattern with high levels of IFN-.gamma., and no induction of IL-5, also, by induction of allergen-specific IgG2a antibodies and reduction of IgE and IgG1 antibodies in mice. The administration of this composition does not affect a preexisting response against the bacterial antigens, induced by prior immunizations.

The Proposed Solution has the Following Advantages:

The immunological effect induced by this vaccine composition counteract both: the anaphylactic type I hypersensitivity response (reduction of IgE and IgG1), and the delayed type inflammatory and chronic allergic reactions (IL-5 reduction), which makes it effective in the treatment of asthma. The therapeutic effect is attributed to the presentation of allergens to the immune system in a non-allergenic context, and it is achieved in a reduced number of injections and in a shorter time as compared to traditional immunotherapy with allergen extracts. Such effect is used advantageously not only in the treatment of allergic patients, but also it allows to prevent the disease development in individuals with an early allergic state or to prevent the onset of new allergic sensitizations to other allergens.

The immunological effect of proteoliposomes as an immune-modifier adjuvant is effective and safe in the first months of life, during the breast-feeding period. It makes possible the administration of the vaccine in children at this age with a prophylactic purpose, before that the disease has appeared and developed. It is particularly useful for children with allergic familial history and therefore with a high probability of being so.

The adsorption of the active components into a depot adjuvant, specifically into Aluminum Hydroxide, reduces the allergenicity of the formulation (i.e. the capacity of IgE binding), in more than 10 times in relation to a similar dose of aqueous allergen. This implies a considerable reduction of risk of severe anaphylactic reactions during its administration. In addition, the adsorption into the gel contributes to extend the shelf-life stability of the formulation by decreasing the kinetics of the chemical reactions that can possibly cause degradation of the active components.

The use of purified allergens and particularly of purified mite allergen of the Dermatophagoides genus, including Group 1 and 2 allergens, facilitate the standardization of the product composition. Then, it is possible to determine and fit accurately the allergen content in the formulation and to assess the efficacy of its coupling to the proteoliposome and adsorption into Aluminum Hydroxide gel. In addition, in the case of covalent coupling, it is possible to easily separate unwanted by-products (such as the allergen-allergen polymers) from the active compound (proteoliposome-allergen conjugate) thanks to the big difference in Molecular Weight between both components. This separation can be performed using commercially available size-exclusion chromatography. The technology can be applied to allergens of different nature, being possible to use several allergens in a same formulation.

Another advantage is the lack of toxicity of the product, in spite of containing small amounts of LPS, which, on the other hand, retains their immunogenic effect. That makes it appropriate for a safe administration to humans and particularly to small children.

Proteoliposomes also turn T-independent antigens, such as carbohydrates, into T-dependent antigens. This feature can also be advantageously applied to allergens of polysaccharide nature, such as CCD.

Claim 1 of 17 Claims

1. A vaccine composition for diminishing type I anaphylactic hypersensitivity to domestic mites and inducing a Th-1 type immune response to said mites comprising: a) a proteoliposome from the outer membrane of Neisseria mentingitidis; b. at least one allergen from domestic mites; and c) aluminum hydroxide as a depot adjuvant.

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