modulation of the immune response to dna vaccine encoding gene of 8-kda subunit of echinococcus granulosus antigen b using murine interleukin-12 plasmid in balb/c mice

background : the current study was designed to evaluate immune responses induced by dna vaccines encoding 8-kda subunit of antigen b (hydi) of echinococcus granulosus and murine interleukin 12 (il-12) as genetic adjuvants in balb/c mice. methods : expression plasmid pcdna3.1 containing hydi (pchyd1) as vaccine along with the murine interleukin 12 (pcmil12) as adjuvant were used. thirty-five mice in the five experimental groups received pbs, empty pcdna3.1, pchydі, pcmil-12, and pchydі+ pcmil-12 in days zero, 14 th and 28 th . two weeks after the last immunization, evaluation of the immune response was performed by evaluating the proliferation of splenic lymphocytes, ifn-γ and il-4, determination of igg isotyping titer. results: mice that received the pchydi+pcmil12 exhibited higher levels of lymphocyte proliferation compared to mice that received the pchydi alone ( p <0.001), and produced significantly more ifn-γ in comparison to other groups ( p < 0.001). in addition, they produced significantly less il-4 than mice receiving the pbs and the empty plasmid ( p <0.023). the igg2a levels were clearly higher in pchydi+pcmil12 group in comparison with the groups of pchydi alone, empty plasmid, and pbs. in contrast, igg1 was elevated in the group of pchydi. conclusion: co-delivery of il-12 with dna encoding 8-kda subunit of antigen b was effective significantly in inducing the immune response in mice.