COVID-19 Original Article
Comparative immunogenicity analysis of intradermal versus intramuscular administration of SARS-CoV-2 RBD epitope peptide-based immunogen In vivo

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micinf.2021.104843Get rights and content
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Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe disruption of global health and devastated the socio-economic conditions all over the world. The disease is caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus that belongs to the family of Coronaviruses which are known to cause a wide spectrum of diseases both in humans and animals. One of the characteristic features of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is the high reproductive rate (R0) that results in high transmissibility of the virus among humans. Vaccines are the best option to prevent and control this disease. Though, the traditional intramuscular (IM) route of vaccine administration is one of the effective methods for induction of antibody response, a needle-free self-administrative intradermal (ID) immunization will be easier for SARS-CoV-2 infection containment, as vaccine administration method will limit human contacts. Here, we have assessed the humoral and cellular responses of a RBD-based peptide immunogen when administered intradermally in BALB/c mice and side-by-side compared with the intramuscular immunization route. The results demonstrate that ID vaccination is well tolerated and triggered a significant magnitude of humoral antibody responses as similar to IM vaccination. Additionally, the ID immunization resulted in higher production of IFN-γ and IL-2 suggesting superior cellular response as compared to IM route. Overall, our data indicates immunization through ID route provides a promising alternative approach for the development of self-administrative SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidates.

Keywords

SARS-COV-2
Intradermal immunization
Vaccine
RBD peptide
Humoral and cellular responses

Abbreviations

RBD
Receptor binding protein
ID
Intradermal
IM
Intramuscular
hACE2
human-angiotensin-converting enzyme 2
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019
SARS-CoV-2
Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related Coronavirus 2
MERS-CoV
Middle East respiratory syndrome Coronavirus
SARS-CoV
Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related Coronavirus
S protein
Spike protein
TMB
3,3',5,5'-Tetramethylbenzidine
ELISA
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay

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Equal contribution.