Cellular Immune Responses after Immunization with an Adjuvant Hepatitis B Vaccine after Liver Transplantation for Hepatitis B-Related Disease

Introduction Recently a study with a new hepatitis B vaccine consisting of hepatitis B surface antigen formulated with the adjuvants 3-deacetylated monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL) and Quillaja saponaria (QS21) was exceptionally successfull leading to a hightitered longlasting antibody response in sixteen of twenty patients (Bienzle et al., Hepatology 2003;38: 811–819). In the investigation presented here we analysed cellular immune responses of the successfully vaccinated participants of this study. Material and Methods Cellular immune responses were determined by stimulating enriched T-lymphocytes with HBsAg and q…