Nanoparticles Offer Potential as Intrauterine Vaccine Delivery Mechanism

Scientists with the University of Saskatchewan are examining the potential of encapsulating vaccines or drugs within nanoparticles to allow them to be administered to sows and gilts along with semen during artificial insemination.

Researchers with the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization and the College of Pharmacy & Nutrition are exploring the potential use of nanoparticles to administer intrauterine vaccines as an alternative to needles to prevent swine disease, focussing initially on Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea.

Dr. Azita Haddadi, an Associate Professor with the Division of Pharmacy in the College of Pharmacy & Nutrition, says these nanoparticles which consist of polymers that are approved by the FDA, encapsulate the drug or vaccine.

Clip-Dr. Azita Haddadi-University of Saskatchewan:

These nanoparticles are tiny spheres that can carry the drug or vaccine inside them.Using these nanoparticles as a carrier for vaccines or drugs, it could be for different reasons like protecting the payload from degradation or they could target the payload to specific cells or tissues or you can control the release times for this vaccine or medication so we can use them for so many different reasons and so many different applications.

In our lab we are mainly using these for chemotherapy application and vaccine.These nanoparticles can get the vaccine and take it to immune cells and then start the immune response so they are able to induce a robust immune response.

Dr. Haddadi says researchers have completed the development of safe stable vaccines and the next step is to conduct trials to see if they are able to induce an immune response in piglets exposed to infection.