Iscoms containing purified Quillaja saponins upregulate both Th1-like and Th2-like immune responses

The immune stimulating complex (iscom) is built up by antigen, cholesterol, phospholipids, and adjuvant active Quillaja saponins. Previous studies have shown that iscoms containing Quil A (a semipurified preparation of saponins) efficiently induce antibody and cell-mediated immune responses. In this study, we demonstrate that iscoms containing a mixture of two purified low toxicity Quillaja saponin fractions (ISCOPREP 703) are able to upregulate both Th1-like and Th2-like immune responses. Thus, ovalbumin (OVA) iscoms induced higher levels of antigen-specific IgG1 and IgG2a antibodies and increased the production of both IFN-gamma and IL-4 compared with OVA administered without adjuvant. In contrast, OVA formulated in Al(OH)3 elicited IgG1 and IgE antibodies and primed spleen cells producing IL-4 and IL-10, suggesting the activation of primarily Th2-like cells. These findings underline that adjuvants are able to alter the character of immune responses and may be used to generate responses with desired properties.