ABSTRACT
Vaccination is the most efficient method for infectious disease prevention. Parenteral injections such as intramuscular, intradermal, and subcutaneous injections have several advantages in vaccine delivery, but there are many drawbacks. Thus, the development of a new vaccine delivery system has long been required. Recently, microneedles have been attracting attention as new vaccination tools. Microneedle is a highly effective transdermal vaccine delivery method due to its mechanism of action, painlessness, and ease of use. Here, we summarized the characteristics of microneedles and the possibilities as a new vaccine delivery route.
ABSTRACT
Prebiotics improve the growth or activities of specific microbial genera and species in the gut microbiota in order to confer health benefits to the host. In this study, we investigated the effect of poly-gamma-glutamate (γ-PGA) as a prebiotic on the gut microbiota of mice and the organ distributions of γ-PGA in mice. Pyrosequencing analysis for 16S rRNA genes of bacteria indicated that oral administration of γ-PGA increased the abundance of Lactobacillales while reducing the abundance of Clostridiales in murine guts. It is suggested that oral administration of γ-PGA can be helpful for modulating the gut microbiota as a prebiotic.
