The purpose of adding adjuvants into vaccines is to boost the immune system response and to allow for fewer doses or lesser quantities of the vaccine to be administered. Aluminum, one of the most commonly used adjuvants, was first discovered to have adjuvant properties back in 1926.
Since then numerous vaccines, such as hepatitis A, hepatitis B, diphtheria-tetanus, Haemophilus influenza type b, and pneumococcal vaccines have been developed with the use of aluminum adjuvants. Today, a number of different kinds of adjuvants have been discovered and successfully used to develop new vaccines. We discuss these below.
Scientists theorize that adjuvants may act through a number of mechanisms to have the impact of enhancing the immune system response. Studies have revealed that adjuvants are likely to influence mechanisms such as the induction of cytokines and chemokines, the formation of depot, the promotion of antigen transportation to drain the lymph nodes, and the enhancement of antigen uptake and presentation.
Research has revealed that adjuvants are likely generating immuno-competent environments at the location of the vaccine injection through the activation of an innate immune response. It is this innate response, the type that is activated, which governs how the quality of the adaptive immune responses are altered.
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