Theoretical and Experimental Substantiation of Alternative Methods for Quality Control of Live Anthrax Vaccine

Preventive immunisation against anthrax is carried out in accordance with the national Immunisation Schedule for Epidemic Settings. The vaccination is performed using a live vaccine—a freeze-dried suspension of Bacillus anthracis STI-1 vaccine strain spores in a stabilizing media. Improvement of the quality control of immunobiological medicines is a pressing issue and an integral part of the quality management system. The aim of study was to streamline quality control of live anthrax vaccine in terms of the following test parameters: identification and specific activity (total spore concentration). Materials and methods: identification and specific activity (total spore concentration) tests were performed for samples of live anthrax vaccine, batch 266, produced by the 48 Central Scientific Research Institute. The identification test was performed using the B. anthracis immunochromatography test kit for express detection and identification of anthrax pathogen spores produced by the State Research Center for Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology (Obolensk). The specific activity (total spore concentration) was assessed by the visual method and calculated in the Goryaev chamber using the industry reference standard of bacterial suspension turbidity equivalent to 10 IU—OSO 42-28-85 (by the Scientific Centre for Expert Evaluation of Medicinal Products). The number of live spores in live anthrax vaccine was determined by the microbiological method (by inoculating media). The statistical processing of the results was performed using Excel and Statistica 10.0. Results: the authors provided theoretical and experimental substantiation to support the feasibility of using immunochromatography as an alternative identification test method for live anthrax vaccine. Test samples dilutions of 108 microbial cells per millilitre and 109 microbial cells per millilitre are used in the test. The authors developed a test procedure for determination of the total spore concentration (specific activity) in live anthrax vaccine using an industry reference standard of turbidity equivalent to 10 IU, and proposed a formula for calculation of the total spore concentration. Conclusions: the developed test procedures could be recommended for inclusion in the live anthrax vaccine specification files as alternative methods of quality control. 

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