ABSTRACT

Eisenblätter, Martin, Christiane Stahl-Hennig, Seraphin Kuate, Nicole Stolte, Edith Jasny, Helmut Hahn, Melissa Pope, Klara Tenner-Racz, Paul Racz, Ralph M. Steinman, Klaus Überla, and Ralf Ignatius. 2004. "Induction of neutralising antibodies restricts the use of human granulocyte/macrophage colony stimulating factor for vaccine studies in rhesus macaques," Vaccine 22(25–26): 3295–3302.

Granulocyte/macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is a valuable adjuvant to enhance induction of cellular immune responses in rodents. Less information is available regarding its use as an adjuvant in primates or humans. We explored recombinant human GM-CSF for potential vaccine studies in rhesus macaques and focused on its effect on peripheral monocytes as progenitors of dendritic cells and its potential immunogenicity. Application of human GM-CSF to nine animals led to an average 32-fold increase in monocyte numbers. This was not observed upon re-treatment, which coincided with GM-CSF-specific neutralising antibodies. These also neutralised the activity of rhesus macaque GM-CSF. The data underscore the need to use species-specific GM-CSF for immunomodulation in primates.

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