Immunomodulators boost vaccine response and reduce inflammation

Adjuvants—ingredients that help boost the immune response in vaccines—have been used in vaccines for decades. But inducing a stronger immune response can result in more unwanted side effects, like swelling at the injection site or fever and body aches. Researchers at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) at the University of Chicago have found that adding small molecules called immunomodulators to vaccine adjuvants gives them the ability to better regulate the body’s response to vaccines. “If you think of adjuvants as a megaphone that stimulates the immune system, then you can think of immunomodulators as a sound mixer,” said Jeremiah Kim, a graduate student and co-lead author of the paper. “We’re able to selectively tune the immune response to reduce negative side effects.” In models, adding immunomodulators to a flu vaccine increased antibody response, and adding them to a typhoid vaccine reduced inflammation. The results were published in ACS Central Science, and the...