Complete Freund’s Adjuvant (CFA) is one of the two types of most commonly used Freund’s Adjuvant. This type of adjuvant is an emulsion of mineral oil containing antigen used as an immunostimulant, is an adjuvant used in animal experiments, which includes inactivated mycobacteria. This type of Freund’s Adjuvant comprises heat-destroyed Mycobacterium tuberculosis in non-metabolizable oils, usually, mannide monooleate or paraffin oil.The most commonly used mycobacteria in the blend are Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is the main element in the oil and water emulsion, which is capable of stimulating the production of antibodies. However, the major drawback of using Complete Freund’s Adjuvant to the animal is that it may cause a few side effects such as tissue damage for the animals such as mouse and rabbit. Complete Freund’s adjuvant is generally used for the first immunization of animals, and after the first immunization is successful, in order to enhance the immune effect, the second immunization will be performed with Freund’s incomplete adjuvant.
The reason for making Complete Freund’s Adjuvant more effective than other adjuvants is that it can be used efficiently to stimulate the growth of immune responses in cells. Another reason for the effectiveness of the adjuvant is that it is also capable of increasing the production of immunoglobulin antibodies, such as IgA and IgG. Complete Freund’s Adjuvant can only be applied to animals for the reason that it consists of a carcinogenic constituent known as mineral oil. Complete Freund’s Adjuvant may be an ideal adjuvant for specific types of antigens, such as:
- Antigens that have a small molecular weight
- Antigens that are difficult to get
- Antigens that are available only in extremely small amounts
- Antigens that are weakly immunogenic
This type of Freund’s Adjuvant is frequently used to set up animal models of arthritis aches, and eye infection complications due to diabetes. CFA is capable of inducing Th1 and Th2 cellular responses when it is added BCG or Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is not in activated state.