Monophosphoryl
lipid A (MPL)
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Squalene
[2005] A Glimpse into the Scary World of Vaccine Adjuvants By Edda West
Quotes
So what exactly is this new high potency adjuvant? We're told by the press
release that MPL (AS04), is a "derivative of the lipid A molecule found in
Gram-negative bacteria, is extracted from bacterial cell walls and is one of the
most potent regulators of the immune response, used by the body to alert itself
to bacterial infections." Full name of the lipid is monophosphoryl lipid A
(MPL)
This news should put everyone on high alert because guess what? Lipids are
oils/fatty acids and according to Matsumoto, MPL is identified in declassified
documents as one of two squalene emulsions used in the Army's new "recombinant
protective antigen anthrax vaccine (rPA) which the FDA, the National Institutes
of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense fast-tracked into clinical trials
in1998. The other squalene adjuvant they used was Chiron's MF59.
[2005] A Glimpse into the
Scary World of Vaccine Adjuvants By Edda West
GSK's proprietary adjuvant is called ASO4. It contains
alum and MPL. MPL stands for monophosphoryl lipid A. The U.S. Army's proprietary
(unlicensed) adjuvant developed prior to the first Gulf War for use in a second
generation anthrax vaccine was called Tri-Mix or Triple Mix. Tri-Mix contained
MPL (monophosphoryl lipid A) and squalene. After the war, Army scientists
considered MPL to be too toxic, so they began working with Chiron Corporation of
Emeryville, CA to develop an adjuvant that contained squalene and water only ...
on the assumption that adjuvant toxicity with Tri-Mix was due to MPL. This
assumption also proved incorrect. There are more than two dozen animal studies
that generated data demonstrating squalene's ability to induce autoimmunity; and
there is disputed evidence that nanodoses of squalene in anthrax vaccine
sickened countless military personnel who received squalene-tainted vaccine
during AVIP.
Back to ASO4 and MPL. MPL was also
a component of the Ribi Adjuvant System ( I haven't checked whether it still
is). The Ribi Adjuvant System, or RAS, is a derivative of Tri-Mix, which is
approved for use in animals only.
As far as I know, there is no
existing data showing whether MPL elicits an immune response specific to it. If
MPL is immunogenic, it raises the
possibility of a dangerous "cross reaction." The human body is full of lipids.
Antibodies and immune cells responding to MPL might also respond to other lipids
in the body, thus breaking tolerance for endogenous lipids (those native to the
human body) and initiating autoimmunity. Secret
adjuvant in new avian flu vaccine
Gary Matsumoto