Enhanced rates and magnitude of immune responses detected against an HIV vaccine: Effect of using an optimized process for isolating PBMC

Quantitative analysis of cell-mediated immune responses induced by candidate HIV vaccines requires robust procedures for collecting and processing human peripheral mononuclear blood cells (PBMCs). We evaluated several parameters in order to optimize a sample handling process that would be suitable for a multicenter clinical trial. Among the findings, systematic increases in the magnitude of IFN-gamma ELISpot responses were observed when the time from blood collection to PBMC freezing was reduced to < 12 h. By implementing these improvements within an ongoing clinical trial, the estimated immunologic response rates to an adenovirus-based HIV vaccine increased by more than 20 percentage points to similar to 80% of the vaccine recipients against any of the vaccine antigens and the average levels of T cell response improved more than 3-fold. These studies establish the importance of optimal conditions for PBMC collection and handling to the success of a clinical development program.