Abstract
Immunostimulatory potential of dendritic cells (DC) is reached upon maturation. We tested whether an immunostimulatory effect of a wide range of clinically used immunomodulators (LuivacR, BiostimR, RibomunylR, ImudonR, BronchovaxomR and ImunorR and ImmodinR) is caused by a effect on DC activation.
We found that LuivacR, BiostimR and RibomunylR have a very high DC stimulatory potential. The level of DC activation was comparable or higher than DC maturation induced by standard maturation stimuli, Poly (I:C) or LPS.
Stimulated DC had activated phenotype, reduced phagocytic activity and potently stimulated allogeneic T lymphocytes. These results are important for understanding the physiology of action of these widely prescribed agents.
Prescription of immunostimulators should be considered with care to avoid the potential risk of inducing an autoimmune disease. They could also be used as well-defined maturating agents in the protocols used for the ex vivo production of DC-based vaccines for clinical trials.