Precision Adjuvant Strategies in Vaccine Development for Substance Use Disorders: Variability and Mechanistic Insights

Abstract

Substance use disorders (SUDs) remain a major global health challenge with limited treatment options and high relapse rates. Vaccines that induce drug-sequestering antibodies have shown promise, but their efficacy is hindered by the poor immunogenicity of small-molecule haptens. Adjuvants, substances that enhance immune responses, are critical for overcoming this limitation and improving vaccine efficacy. This review synthesizes over two decades of preclinical and clinical research to guide rational adjuvant design for SUD vaccines. Five major adjuvant classes are examined: aluminum-salt adjuvants, emulsion adjuvants, toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists, protein immunopotentiators, and cytokine modulators. Their physicochemical properties, innate immune activation profiles, and applications in nicotine, stimulant, and opioid vaccines are discussed. Comparative analyses reveal pronounced drug-specific and carrier-specific variability. Case studies illustrate the superior performance of a complementary TLR-agonist pair in a nicotine nanovaccine versus its limited effect in oxycodone vaccines. They also reveal the differential efficacy of an oil-in-water emulsion adjuvant across antigen types. Four principles emerge: (i) no adjuvant is universally optimal; (ii) drug pharmacology influences immune signaling; (iii) adjuvant-carrier compatibility is important; (iv) complementary adjuvant pairings often outperform single agents. These insights support a precision-vaccinology paradigm that tailors adjuvant strategies to each drug class and the delivery vehicle, advancing the development of next-generation SUD vaccines.