Safety and immunogenicity of Towne cytomegalovirus vaccine with or without adjuvant recombinant interleukin-12

The Towne, human cytomegalovirus (CMV) vaccine is safe and immunogenic but has not prevented infection at doses tested to date. We administered 3000 pfu Towne CMV vaccine, with or without adjuvant recombinant interleukin-12 (rhIL-12), to CMV-seronegative healthy volunteers and then measured CMV gB-specific IgG titers and CMV-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell proliferation and IFNγ expression after stimulation with whole viral lysate and immunodominant peptide CMV antigens. Adjuvant rhIL-12 at doses up to 2 μg were well-tolerated and associated with (1) dose-related increases in peak anti-CMV gB IgG titers (though not in sustained titers), (2) dose-related increases in the weak CMV viral lysate-specific CD4+ T cell proliferation responses induced by vaccine alone after 360 days of follow-up, and (3) decreases in the very robust CMV IE-specific peak CD4+ T cell and Day 360 CD8+ T cell proliferation responses induced by the vaccine alone. Also, qualitative CD8+ T cell IFNγ responses to stimulation with the immunodominant CMV antigen, pp65, tended to occur more frequently in vaccinees who received 0.5-2.0 μg rhIL-12 compared to lower dose or no rhIL-12. Thus, adjuvant IL-12 may be a promising strategy for improving antibody and T cell immune responses to a CMV vaccine.