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Link to original content: http://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39453199/
Continuous Treatment with IncobotulinumtoxinA Despite Presence of BoNT/A Neutralizing Antibodies: Immunological Hypothesis and a Case Report - PubMed Skip to main page content
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Review
. 2024 Oct 1;16(10):422.
doi: 10.3390/toxins16100422.

Continuous Treatment with IncobotulinumtoxinA Despite Presence of BoNT/A Neutralizing Antibodies: Immunological Hypothesis and a Case Report

Affiliations
Review

Continuous Treatment with IncobotulinumtoxinA Despite Presence of BoNT/A Neutralizing Antibodies: Immunological Hypothesis and a Case Report

Michael Uwe Martin et al. Toxins (Basel). .

Abstract

Botulinum Neurotoxin A (BoNT/A) is a bacterial protein that has proven to be a valuable pharmaceutical in therapeutic indications and aesthetic medicine. One major concern is the formation of neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) to the core BoNT/A protein. These can interfere with the therapy, resulting in partial or complete antibody (Ab)-mediated secondary non-response (SNR) or immunoresistance. If titers of nAbs reach a level high enough that all injected BoNT/A molecules are neutralized, immunoresistance occurs. Studies have shown that continuation of treatment of neurology patients who had developed Ab-mediated partial SNR against complexing protein-containing (CPC-) BoNT/A was in some cases successful if patients were switched to complexing protein-free (CPF-) incobotulinumtoxinA (INCO). This seems to contradict the layperson's basic immunological understanding that repeated injection with the same antigen BoNT/A should lead to an increase in antigen-specific antibody titers. As such, we strive to explain how immunological memory works in general, and based on this, we propose a working hypothesis for this paradoxical phenomenon observed in some, but not all, neurology patients with immunoresistance. A critical factor is the presence of potentially immune-stimulatory components in CPC-BoNT/A products that can act as immunologic adjuvants and activate not only naïve, but also memory B lymphocyte responses. Furthermore, we propose that continuous injection of a BoN/TA formulation with low immunogenicity, e.g., INCO, may be a viable option for aesthetic patients with existing nAbs. These concepts are supported by a real-world case example of a patient with immunoresistance whose nAb levels declined with corresponding resumption of clinical response despite regular INCO injections.

Keywords: Botulinum Neurotoxin A; IncobotulinumtoxinA; complexing protein free; immunologic adjuvants; immunological memory; immunoresistance; reactivation; secondary non-response; therapy failure.

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Conflict of interest statement

Michael Uwe Martin serves as an ad hoc consultant and speaker for Merz Pharma GmbH & Co., KGaA. Clifton Ming Tay is an employee of Merz Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. Tuck Wah Siew serves as an ad hoc consultant and speaker for Merz Asia Pacific Pte Ltd.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Summary scheme of the activation of the immune system: The naïve situation. (A) Dendritic cells (DCs) are sentinel cells residing in tissues. Upon encountering a microbial challenge, microbial surface structures, e.g., flagellin, act as immunologic adjuvants (red arrow) to activate pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) on DCs. Activated DCs phagocytose what they have recognized (antigens) in their vicinity. Phagocytosed proteins are digested in phagosomes to antigenic peptides that are loaded onto MHC II. Upon optimal activation, DC move from the tissue into the next draining lymph node (rolling blue arrow from A to B). (B) In the lymph node, DCs settle as professional antigen presenting cells (APC) presenting peptides on MHC II to antigen-specific naïve T helper lymphocytes (Th0). If a naïve Th0 cell recognizes the presented peptide in MHC II, it interacts with the costimulatory surface molecules on the APC (double arrow) and receives cytokines from the APC (single arrow). The Th0 cell becomes fully activated, starts to proliferate, and clonally expands to a large number of effector Th cells with identical peptide specificity. (C) An antigen-specific naïve B lymphocyte (B) recognizes the same antigen with its B cell antigen receptor (BCR) that is a plasma membrane-anchored immunoglobulin. In the presence of immunologic adjuvants (red arrow) these PRR are engaged, and this B cell becomes optimally activated (left). It internalizes its BCR with the bound antigen, processes it to antigenic peptides (right), and presents these in MHC II on the surface (the same peptide as presented by the DC). One of the offsprings of the clonally expanded antigen-specific Th provides help in form of costimulatory molecules (double-headed arrow) and T helper cell cytokines (single arrow). This allows clonal expansion of this antigen-specific B cell to develop into many B plasma cells with the same antigen specificity. In the naïve immune response, immunologic adjuvants (red arrows) come into action twice: first by facilitating full activation of DC to become APC, and second, by allowing full activation of an antigen-specific B cell.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Antigen-specific B lymphocytes have several options of contributing antibodies in a naïve and memory situation. (A) The naïve situation. An antigen-specific B lymphocyte that has been optimally stimulated by its antigen plus immunologic adjuvants presents peptides to an antigen-specific T helper lymphocyte in the lymph node and receives T cell help to clonally expand. The clonal offspring have several options. They can develop into IgM-producing antibody factories, or plasma blasts (P) providing the first wave of protective antibodies with a low to moderate affinity (far left). A few of these IgM-positive B cells may develop into resting memory cells (left). In the germinal center (GC), B cells undergo several rounds of proliferation (middle). They can switch antibody classes and contribute with IgG antibodies with a similar affinity for the antigen to the first wave of Abs (middle). Some of these B cells can be rescued to become IgG-positive memory B cells (middle). Others can switch antibody classes and improve the affinity of their BCR by undergoing somatic hypermutation and affinity maturation. A part of these B cells can either become IgG-positive memory B cells (right) or produce higher-affinity IgG Abs in the late stage of an immune response (far right). (B) The recall situation. After encountering the same antigen again, all depicted types of memory B cells can rapidly produce antigen-specific Abs of different isotypes and affinities. Immunologic adjuvants can contribute to optimal B cell activation in the naïve and the recall situation (indicated by the red arrows).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Trend of nAb titers over time. From July 2019 (VII/19) to January 2024 (I/20), the patient’s serum was analyzed for nAbs to BoNT/A using an ex-vivo mouse hemidiaphragm assay (service performed by toxogen GmbH, since Jan 2023 by toxologics GmbH, Hannover, Germany) at regular intervals. The patient received INCO every 3–4 months, from July 2019 (VI/19)–April 2024 (IV/24), with a dose of 50 units per masseter. Titers of nAbs were progressively on a downward trend from July 2019 (VI/19), eventually reaching below the lower cutoff point of 1.82 mIU/mL and hence regarded as undetectable in January 2023. (International unit (IU)/mL is a measurement of neutralizing BoNT/A activity in serum. One IU neutralizes 10,000 LD50 BoNT/A. The botulinum neurotoxin serotype A antitoxin standard was trivalent Botulismus Antitoxin Behring (registration no. 31a/78) Batch 080031A from Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics GmbH & Co. KG, 35006 Marburg, Germany).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Assessment of clinical responses of patient. (A) Photographic demonstration of masseter reduction. Before incobtulinumtoxinA injection in September 2023 and March 2024; 2 months post-injection with INCO in May 2024. (B) Ultrasonographic measurement of masseter thickness reduction. Following INCO injection in January 2024, mean thickness of masseter decreased from 15.7 mm to 15.0 mm in March 2024, and from 14.7 mm in April 2024 to 13.5 mm in May 2024. (C) Photographic demonstration of clinical response to INCO treatment in the glabella at maximum frown: (left) before; September 2023 (right) after; November 2023).

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