Home field advantage: Intravaginal immunization may help protect against infection

Sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) enter the body through the mucosal epithelial cells and the ability to direct pathogen-clearing T-cells to points of infection may be the critical element in developing successful vaccines against these infections.

In a study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers led by John Schiller at the National Cancer Institute investigated the immune response to intravaginal immunization in mice infected with a form of the HPV virus carrying a model antigen.

They found that intravaginal immunization significantly increased the number of immune cells present in the vaginal mucosa compared with a general immune system booster.

These results indicate that site-specific vaccination enhances the local immune system response and may be useful in developing STD vaccines.