Immunogenicity and safety of a novel tetanus toxoid-conjugated anti-gastrin vaccine in BALB/c mice

The vaccine, or immunogen, was injected intramuscularly into the legs of BALB/c mice, which produced high serum titres of specific IgG antibodies and IFN-γ in their spleen cells, identifiable by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and enzyme-linked immunospot assay (ELISPOT), respectively. TT as the protein carrier effectively enhanced the antigenic epitopes' humoural and cellular immune responses, unlike the antigenic epitopes alone or the immunogen's adjuvant emulsion system (AES), all of which failed to provoke any obvious immune response. Notably, the animals' body weights increased significantly after immunization (P < .01), while their haematology and serum biochemistry were all generally normal, and the gross anatomy of their main organs (e.g., heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney) showed no obvious histopathological changes.