[Thymopentin as adjuvant therapy in the hepatitis B vaccination of non- or hyporesponsive subjects]

Abstract

The efficacy of thymopentin as adjuvant therapy was assessed in 13 people who did not respond to standard anti-hepatitis B vaccination with Pasteur HEVAC or Merck HV-VAX. Thymopentin (Sindtomodulina, Italfarmaco)--was given in doses of 50 mg 3 times a week for 3 consecutive weeks, a booster dose of the vaccine (40 mcg HB VAX injected into the deltoid muscle, or 10 mcg HEVAC subcutaneous) being given at the start of the second week. In 69.23% of the patients whose anamnesis revealed no immune deficiency, the Merrieux Multitest showed defective cell-mediated immunity. The adjuvant treatment produced an adequate immune response to the vaccine (anti ABc antibody titre 10 mU/ml) in 76.9% of cases and normalised cell-mediated immunity in 66.6% of those found to be hypoanergic at basal screening.