AM3, an adjuvant to hepatitis B revaccination in non-responder healthy persons

To the Editor. Most of the new vaccines are thought to be poorly immunogenic in humans (1). For this reason, the use of immunoadjuvants is now considered a positive associated treatment to vaccination. In this pilot study we used AM3 (Inmunofer6na, Lab. Andr&naco, Spain), a polysaccharideiprotein compound, as an adjuvant to revaccination against hepatitis B in a selected population of healthy subjects who were non-responders to the vaccine. When given orally, this drug enhances macrophage, NK and T-lymphocyte functions in mice and humans (2). Oral treatment with AM3 also enhances IL-l (2), IL-2 (2,3), and IFN-7 (MA Chirigos, personal communication) production in mice. Besides their effector functions, these cells and their related cytokines are involved in the regulation of antigen-specific cell-mediated immune responses (4). Thirteen subjects (9 months to 58 years old) who had been nonresponders (anti-HBsAg lO IU/l) all of them being classified as good responders (anti-HBs>lOO IU/l) with 83% high responders (anti-HBsAg>900 IU/l). In a second step, the other seven persons who had not responded to the 1st booster received an additional one plus AM3, and six out of seven (86%) became responders, with 43% of being responders. These results suggest that AM3 is an effective immunoadjuvant to