Jiří Beran
So called „first generation of adjuvants“ have been based on aluminium salts and they were added to vaccines composition to enhance immune response to vaccine antigen. Formerly produced vaccines contained inactivated or attenuated micro organisms, which were able to promote all necessary signals for high immune response. Nevertheless there was also produced immune response and also adverse events to antigen, which weren’t necessary for protection. Vaccinology has been further developed with possibility to produce recombinant and subunit antigens, which were needed for protection against infection. It was necessary to intensify targeted immune response against recombinant antigen, for fast and long term protection. Such need stimulated research for development of „adjuvant system of the second generation“, which was tailored to particular antigen. Former adjuvants were based on stimulation of adaptive immunity. Contrary of the first the second generation of adjuvant systems is based on Pathogen-Associated Molecular Patterns (PAMP). By binding to Toll-like receptors as a part of innate immunity, they are able to influence adaptive immunity including humoral and also cellular arm of immune system. A licensed vaccine with second generation of adjuvant system is also Cervarix vaccine.