The influenza virus causes annual epidemics and occasional pandemics and is thus a\nmajor public health problem. Development of vaccines and antiviral drugs is essential\nfor controlling influenza virus infection. We previously demonstrated the use of vectored\nimmune-prophylaxis against influenza virus infection. We generated a plasmid encoding\nneutralizing IgG monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against A/PR/8/34 influenza virus\n(IAV) hemagglutinin (HA). We then performed electroporation of the plasmid encoding\nneutralizing mAbs (EP) in mice muscles and succeeded in inducing the expression of\nneutralizing antibodies in mouse serum. This therapy has a prophylactic effect against\nlethal IAV infection in mice. In this study, we established a new method of passive\nimmunotherapy after IAV infection. We performed hydrodynamic injection of the plasmid\nencoding neutralizing mAbs (HD) involving rapid injection of a large volume of plasmid-\nDNA solution into mice via the tail vein. HD could induce neutralizing antibodies\nin the serum and in several mucosal tissues more rapidly than in EP. We also showed\nthat a single HD completely protected the mice even after infection with a lethal dose\nof IAV. We also established other isotypes of anti-HA antibody (IgA, IgM, IgD, and IgE)\nand showed that like anti-HA IgG, anti-HA IgA was also effective at combating upper\nrespiratory tract IAV infection. Passive immunotherapy with HD could thus provide a new\ntherapeutic strategy targeting influenza virus infection.
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