TABLE 3.

Mucosal antibody responses induced by rUre immunization

Routea	Vaccineb	Challengec	Mean level of IgAd (ng/ml) in:
			Gastric secretions	Saliva
p.o.	rUre + LT	−	0.31	798.56
		+	6.00e	832.12
r.	rUre + LT	−	40.89e	82.16
		+	72.40e	176.65
i.n.	rUre + LT	−	0.25	439.23
		+	1.02e	1,258.72f
All	LT	+	0.12	0.10

^aWeekly immunizations were given on days 0, 7, 14, and 21 by either the p.o. (50 μl of soluble antigen delivered by pipette into the buccal cavity), the i.n. (5 μl of soluble antigen delivered to each external naris of unanesthetized mice), or the rectal (r.) (25 μl of soluble antigen delivered with an olive-tipped catheter directly into the rectum) route. Sham-immunized control animals (n = 15) received LT alone by either the p.o., i.n., or rectal route, and results were pooled for this analysis (“All”). 

^bBy the p.o. or rectal route, animals were administered 25-μg doses of rUre plus LT (5 μg p.o. and 25 μg rectally), and by the i.n. route, animals were administered 10-μg doses of rUre plus LT (5 μg) (n = 10/group). 

^cAnimals were challenged once with 100 μl of a 10⁸-CFU/ml suspension of streptomycin-resistant H. pylori X472AL. 

^dGastric and salivary IgA antibody responses are presented as geometric means. 

^eStatistical significance (P < 0.005) was determined by the Wilcoxon rank sum test, with results for immunized animals being compared to those for sham-immunized controls. 

^fStatistical significance (P < 0.05) was determined by the Wilcoxon rank sum test, with results for challenged animals being compared to those for similarly treated unchallenged animals.