Over the past two decades, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been intensively studied as potential bacterial carriers for therapeutic materials, such as vaccine antigens, to the mucosal tissues.
LAB have several attractive advantages as carriers of mucosal vaccines, and the effectiveness of LAB vaccines has been demonstrated in numerous studies. Research on LAB vaccines to date has focused on whether antigen-specific immunity, particularly antibody responses, can be induced.
However, with recent developments in immunology, microbiology, and vaccinology, more detailed analyses of the underlying mechanisms, especially, of the induction of cell-mediated immunity and memory cells, have been required for vaccine development and licensure. In this mini-review, we will discuss the issues, including
(i) immune responses other than antibody production, (ii) persistence of LAB vaccine immunity,
(iii) comparative evaluation of LAB vaccines with any existing or reference vaccines,
(iv) strategies for increasing the effectiveness of LAB vaccines, and
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(iv) effects of microbiota on the efficacy of LAB vaccines. Although these issues have been rarely studied or discussed to date in relation to LAB vaccine research, further understanding of them is critical for the practical application of LAB vaccine systems.