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Cárdenas-Guerra RE, Montes-Flores O, Nava-Pintor EE, Reséndiz-Cardiel G, Flores-Pucheta CI, Rodríguez-Gavaldón YI, Arroyo R, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ, Ortega-López J. Chagasin from Trypanosoma cruzi as a molecular scaffold to express epitopes of TSA-1 as soluble recombinant chimeras. Protein Expr Purif 2024; 218:106458. [PMID: 38423156 DOI: 10.1016/j.pep.2024.106458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Revised: 02/13/2024] [Accepted: 02/21/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
Trypanosoma cruzi is the causative agent of Chagas disease, a global public health problem. New therapeutic drugs and biologics are needed. The TSA-1 recombinant protein of T. cruzi is one such promising antigen for developing a therapeutic vaccine. However, it is overexpressed in E. coli as inclusion bodies, requiring an additional refolding step. As an alternative, in this study, we propose the endogenous cysteine protease inhibitor chagasin as a molecular scaffold to generate chimeric proteins. These proteins will contain combinations of two of the five conserved epitopes (E1 to E5) of TSA-1 in the L4 and L6 chagasin loops. Twenty chimeras (Q1-Q20) were designed, and their solubility was predicted using bioinformatics tools. Nine chimeras with different degrees of solubility were selected and expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3). Western blot assays with anti-6x-His and anti-chagasin antibodies confirmed the expression of soluble recombinant chimeras. Both theoretically and experimentally, the Q12 (E5-E3) chimera was the most soluble, and the Q20 (E4-E5) the most insoluble protein. Q4 (E5-E1) and Q8 (E5-E2) chimeras were classified as proteins with medium solubility that exhibited the highest yield in the soluble fraction. Notably, Q4 has a yield of 239 mg/L, well above the yield of recombinant chagasin (16.5 mg/L) expressed in a soluble form. The expression of the Q4 chimera was scaled up to a 7 L fermenter obtaining a yield of 490 mg/L. These data show that chagasin can serve as a molecular scaffold for the expression of TSA-1 epitopes in the form of soluble chimeras.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosa Elena Cárdenas-Guerra
- Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN), Av. IPN # 2508, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, Gustavo A. Madero, CP 07360, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Octavio Montes-Flores
- Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN), Av. IPN # 2508, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, Gustavo A. Madero, CP 07360, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Edgar Ezequiel Nava-Pintor
- Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN), Av. IPN # 2508, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, Gustavo A. Madero, CP 07360, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Gerardo Reséndiz-Cardiel
- Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN), Av. IPN # 2508, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, Gustavo A. Madero, CP 07360, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Claudia Ivonne Flores-Pucheta
- Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN), Av. IPN # 2508, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, Gustavo A. Madero, CP 07360, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Yasmín Irene Rodríguez-Gavaldón
- Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN), Av. IPN # 2508, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, Gustavo A. Madero, CP 07360, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Rossana Arroyo
- Departamento de Infectómica y Patogénesis Molecular, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN), Av. IPN # 2508, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, Gustavo A. Madero, CP 07360, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Peter J Hotez
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Jaime Ortega-López
- Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN), Av. IPN # 2508, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, Gustavo A. Madero, CP 07360, Mexico City, Mexico.
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2
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Bartsch SM, O'Shea KJ, Weatherwax C, Strych U, Velmurugan K, John DC, Bottazzi ME, Hussein M, Martinez MF, Chin KL, Ciciriello A, Heneghan J, Dibbs A, Scannell SA, Hotez PJ, Lee BY. What is the economic benefit of annual COVID-19 vaccination from the adult individual perspective? J Infect Dis 2024:jiae179. [PMID: 38581432 DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiae179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2024] [Revised: 03/20/2024] [Accepted: 04/03/2024] [Indexed: 04/08/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND With COVID-19 vaccination no longer mandated by many businesses/organizations, it is now up to individuals to decide whether to get any new boosters/updated vaccines going forward. METHODS We developed a Markov model representing the potential clinical/economic outcomes from an individual perspective in the United States of getting versus not getting an annual COVID-19 vaccine. RESULTS For an 18-49-year-old, getting vaccinated at its current price ($60) can save the individual on average $30-$603 if the individual is uninsured and $4-$437 if the individual has private insurance, as long as the starting vaccine efficacy against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is ≥50% and the weekly risk of getting infected is ≥0.2%, corresponding to an individual interacting with 9 other people in a day under Winter 2023-2024 Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant conditions with an average infection prevalence of 10%. For a 50-64-year-old, these cost-savings increase to $111-$1,278 and $119-$1,706, for someone without and with insurance, respectively. The risk threshold increases to ≥0.4% (interacting with 19 people/day), when the individual has 13.4% pre-existing protection against infection (e.g., vaccinated 9 months earlier). CONCLUSION There is both clinical and economic incentive for the individual to continue to get vaccinated against COVID-19 each year.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah M Bartsch
- Public Health Informatics, Computational, and Operations Research (PHICOR), CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York City, NY, USA
- Center for Advanced Technology and Communication in Health (CATCH), CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York City, NY, USA
- Pandemic Response Institute, New York City, NY, USA
| | - Kelly J O'Shea
- Public Health Informatics, Computational, and Operations Research (PHICOR), CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York City, NY, USA
- Center for Advanced Technology and Communication in Health (CATCH), CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York City, NY, USA
- Pandemic Response Institute, New York City, NY, USA
| | - Colleen Weatherwax
- Public Health Informatics, Computational, and Operations Research (PHICOR), CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York City, NY, USA
- Center for Advanced Technology and Communication in Health (CATCH), CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York City, NY, USA
- Pandemic Response Institute, New York City, NY, USA
| | - Ulrich Strych
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, and Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Kavya Velmurugan
- Public Health Informatics, Computational, and Operations Research (PHICOR), CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York City, NY, USA
- Center for Advanced Technology and Communication in Health (CATCH), CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York City, NY, USA
- Pandemic Response Institute, New York City, NY, USA
| | - Danielle C John
- Public Health Informatics, Computational, and Operations Research (PHICOR), CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York City, NY, USA
- Center for Advanced Technology and Communication in Health (CATCH), CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York City, NY, USA
- Pandemic Response Institute, New York City, NY, USA
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, and Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Mustafa Hussein
- CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York City, NY, USA
| | - Marie F Martinez
- Public Health Informatics, Computational, and Operations Research (PHICOR), CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York City, NY, USA
- Center for Advanced Technology and Communication in Health (CATCH), CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York City, NY, USA
- Pandemic Response Institute, New York City, NY, USA
| | - Kevin L Chin
- Public Health Informatics, Computational, and Operations Research (PHICOR), CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York City, NY, USA
- Center for Advanced Technology and Communication in Health (CATCH), CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York City, NY, USA
- Pandemic Response Institute, New York City, NY, USA
| | - Allan Ciciriello
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, and Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Jessie Heneghan
- Public Health Informatics, Computational, and Operations Research (PHICOR), CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York City, NY, USA
- Center for Advanced Technology and Communication in Health (CATCH), CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York City, NY, USA
- Pandemic Response Institute, New York City, NY, USA
| | - Alexis Dibbs
- Public Health Informatics, Computational, and Operations Research (PHICOR), CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York City, NY, USA
- Center for Advanced Technology and Communication in Health (CATCH), CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York City, NY, USA
- Pandemic Response Institute, New York City, NY, USA
| | - Sheryl A Scannell
- Public Health Informatics, Computational, and Operations Research (PHICOR), CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York City, NY, USA
- Center for Advanced Technology and Communication in Health (CATCH), CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York City, NY, USA
- Pandemic Response Institute, New York City, NY, USA
| | - Peter J Hotez
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, and Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Bruce Y Lee
- Public Health Informatics, Computational, and Operations Research (PHICOR), CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York City, NY, USA
- Center for Advanced Technology and Communication in Health (CATCH), CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York City, NY, USA
- Pandemic Response Institute, New York City, NY, USA
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3
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Mancino C, Pollet J, Zinger A, Jones KM, Villar MJ, Leao AC, Adhikari R, Versteeg L, Tyagi Kundu R, Strych U, Giordano F, Hotez PJ, Bottazzi ME, Taraballi F, Poveda C. Harnessing RNA Technology to Advance Therapeutic Vaccine Antigens against Chagas Disease. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2024; 16:15832-15846. [PMID: 38518375 PMCID: PMC10996878 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c18830] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2023] [Revised: 02/29/2024] [Accepted: 03/01/2024] [Indexed: 03/24/2024]
Abstract
Chagas disease (CD) (American trypanosomiasis caused by Trypanosoma cruzi) is a parasitic disease endemic in 21 countries in South America, with increasing global spread. When administered late in the infection, the current antiparasitic drugs do not prevent the onset of cardiac illness leading to chronic Chagasic cardiomyopathy. Therefore, new therapeutic vaccines or immunotherapies are under development using multiple platforms. In this study, we assessed the feasibility of developing an mRNA-based therapeutic CD vaccine targeting two known T. cruzi vaccine antigens (Tc24─a flagellar antigen and ASP-2─an amastigote antigen). We present the mRNA engineering steps, preparation, and stability of the lipid nanoparticles and evaluation of their uptake by dendritic cells, as well as their biodistribution in c57BL/J mice. Furthermore, we assessed the immunogenicity and efficacy of two mRNA-based candidates as monovalent and bivalent vaccine strategies using an in vivo chronic mouse model of CD. Our results show several therapeutic benefits, including reductions in parasite burdens and cardiac inflammation, with each mRNA antigen, especially with the mRNA encoding Tc24, and Tc24 in combination with ASP-2. Therefore, our findings demonstrate the potential of mRNA-based vaccines as a therapeutic option for CD and highlight the opportunities for developing multivalent vaccines using this approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Mancino
- Center
for Musculoskeletal Regeneration, Houston
Methodist Academic Institute, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Jeroen Pollet
- Department
of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Texas
Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Assaf Zinger
- Center
for Musculoskeletal Regeneration, Houston
Methodist Academic Institute, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Laboratory
for Bioinspired Nano Engineering and Translational Therapeutics, Department
of Chemical Engineering, Technion−Israel
Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel
- Cardiovascular
Sciences Department, Houston Methodist Academic
Institute, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Neurosurgery
Department, Houston Methodist Academic Institute, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Kathryn M. Jones
- Department
of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Texas
Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Department
of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Maria José Villar
- Department
of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Texas
Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Ana Carolina Leao
- Department
of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Texas
Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Rakesh Adhikari
- Department
of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Texas
Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Leroy Versteeg
- Department
of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Texas
Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Cell Biology
and Immunology Group, Wageningen University
& Research, Wageningen 6708 PB, The Netherlands
| | - Rakhi Tyagi Kundu
- Department
of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Texas
Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Ulrich Strych
- Department
of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Texas
Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Federica Giordano
- Center
for Musculoskeletal Regeneration, Houston
Methodist Academic Institute, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Peter J. Hotez
- Department
of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Texas
Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Department
of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Department
of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas 76798, United States
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Department
of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Texas
Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Department
of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Department
of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas 76798, United States
| | - Francesca Taraballi
- Center
for Musculoskeletal Regeneration, Houston
Methodist Academic Institute, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Orthopedics
and Sports Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Cristina Poveda
- Department
of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Texas
Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
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4
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Rasmussen AL, Gronvall GK, Lowen AC, Goodrum F, Alwine J, Andersen KG, Anthony SJ, Baines J, Banerjee A, Broadbent AJ, Brooke CB, Campos SK, Caposio P, Casadevall A, Chan GC, Cliffe AR, Collins-McMillen D, Connell N, Damania B, Daugherty MD, Debbink K, Dermody TS, DiMaio D, Duprex WP, Emerman M, Galloway DA, Garry RF, Goldstein SA, Greninger AL, Hartman AL, Hogue BG, Horner SM, Hotez PJ, Jung JU, Kamil JP, Karst SM, Laimins L, Lakdawala SS, Landais I, Letko M, Lindenbach B, Liu SL, Luftig M, McFadden G, Mehle A, Morrison J, Moscona A, Mühlberger E, Munger J, Münger K, Murphy E, Neufeldt CJ, Nikolich JZ, O'Connor CM, Pekosz A, Permar SR, Pfeiffer JK, Popescu SV, Purdy JG, Racaniello VR, Rice CM, Runstadler JA, Sapp MJ, Scott RS, Smith GA, Sorrell EM, Speranza E, Streblow D, Tibbetts SA, Toth Z, Van Doorslaer K, Weiss SR, White EA, White TM, Wobus CE, Worobey M, Yamaoka S, Yurochko A. Correction for Rasmussen et al., "Virology-the path forward". J Virol 2024; 98:e0007424. [PMID: 38334328 PMCID: PMC10949460 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.00074-24] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/10/2024] Open
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5
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Zinsou JF, Diemert DJ, Dejon-Agobé JC, Adégbité BR, Honkpehedji YJ, Vodonou KG, Bikangui R, Edoa JR, Massinga Loembe M, Li G, Yazdanbakhsh M, Bottazzi ME, van Leeuwen R, Kremsner PG, Hotez PJ, Bethony JM, Grobusch MP, Adegnika AA. Safety and immunogenicity of the co-administered Na-APR-1 and Na-GST-1 hookworm vaccines in school-aged children in Gabon: a randomised, controlled, observer-blind, phase 1, dose-escalation trial. Lancet Infect Dis 2024:S1473-3099(24)00104-X. [PMID: 38513684 DOI: 10.1016/s1473-3099(24)00104-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/01/2024] [Revised: 02/07/2024] [Accepted: 02/08/2024] [Indexed: 03/23/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND A human hookworm vaccine is being developed to protect children against iron deficiency and anaemia associated with chronic infection with hookworms. Necator americanus aspartic protease-1 (Na-APR-1) and N americanus glutathione S-transferase-1 (Na-GST-1) are components of the blood digestion pathway critical to hookworm survival in the host. Recombinant Na-GST-1 and catalytically inactive Na-APR-1 (Na-APR-1[M74]) adsorbed to Alhydrogel were safe and immunogenic when delivered separately or co-administered to adults in phase 1 trials in non-endemic and endemic areas. We aimed to investigate the safety and immunogenicity of these antigens in healthy children in a hookworm-endemic area. METHODS This was a randomised, controlled, observer-blind, phase 1, dose-escalation trial, conducted in a clinical research centre, in 60 children aged six to ten years in Lambaréné, a hookworm-endemic region of Gabon. Healthy children (determined by clinical examination and safety laboratory testing) were randomised 4:1 to receive co-administered Na-GST-1 on Alhydrogel plus Na-APR-1(M74) on Alhydrogel and glucopyranosyl lipid A in aqueous formulation (GLA-AF), or co-administered ENGERIX-B hepatitis B vaccine (HBV) and saline placebo, injected into the deltoid of each arm. Allocation to vaccine groups was observer-masked. In each vaccine group, children were randomised 1:1 to receive intramuscular injections into each deltoid on two vaccine schedules, one at months 0, 2, and 4 or at months 0, 2, and 6. 10 μg, 30 μg, and 100 μg of each antigen were administered in the first, second, and third cohorts, respectively. The intention-to-treat population was used for safety analyses; while for immunogenicity analyses, the per-protocol population was used (children who received all scheduled vaccinations). The primary outcome was to evaluate the vaccines' safety and reactogenicity in healthy children aged between six and ten years. The secondary outcome was to measure antigen-specific serum IgG antibody levels at pre-vaccination and post-vaccination timepoints by qualified ELISAs. The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02839161, and is completed. FINDINGS Between Jan 23 and Oct 3, 2017, 137 children were screened, of whom 76 were eligible for this trial. 60 children were recruited, and allocated to either 10 μg of the co-administered antigens (n=8 for each injection schedule), 30 μg (n=8 for each schedule), 100 μg (n=8 for each schedule), or HBV and placebo (n=6 for each schedule) in three sequential cohorts. Co-administration of the vaccines was well tolerated; the most frequent solicited adverse events were mild-to-moderate injection-site pain, observed in up to 12 (75%) of 16 participants per vaccine group, and mild headache (12 [25%] of 48) and fever (11 [23%] of 48). No vaccine-related serious adverse events were observed. Significant anti-Na-APR-1(M74) and anti-Na-GST-1 IgG levels were induced in a dose-dependent manner, with peaks seen 14 days after the third vaccinations, regardless of dose (for Na-APR-1[M74], geometric mean levels [GML]=2295·97 arbitrary units [AU] and 726·89 AU, while for Na-GST-1, GMLs=331·2 AU and 21·4 AU for the month 0, 2, and 6 and month 0, 2, and 4 schedules, respectively). The month 0, 2, and 6 schedule induced significantly higher IgG responses to both antigens (p=0·01 and p=0·04 for Na-APR-1[M74] and Na-GST-1, respectively). INTERPRETATION Co-administration of recombinant Na-APR-1(M74) and Na-GST-1 to school-aged Gabonese children was well tolerated and induced significant IgG responses. These results justify further evaluation of this antigen combination in proof-of-concept controlled-infection and efficacy studies in hookworm-endemic areas. FUNDING European Union Seventh Framework Programme.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeannot F Zinsou
- Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL), Lambaréné, Gabon; Institut für Tropenmedizin, Universität Tübingen and German Center for Infection Research, Tübingen, Germany; Fondation pour la Recherche Scientifique (FORS), Cotonou, Benin
| | - David J Diemert
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington DC, USA; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington DC, USA.
| | | | - Bayodé R Adégbité
- Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL), Lambaréné, Gabon; Institut für Tropenmedizin, Universität Tübingen and German Center for Infection Research, Tübingen, Germany; Center of Tropical Medicine and Travel Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases, Division of Internal Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Yabo Josiane Honkpehedji
- Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL), Lambaréné, Gabon; Fondation pour la Recherche Scientifique (FORS), Cotonou, Benin; Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Kafui G Vodonou
- Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL), Lambaréné, Gabon
| | - Rodrigue Bikangui
- Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL), Lambaréné, Gabon
| | - Jean Ronald Edoa
- Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL), Lambaréné, Gabon
| | | | - Guangzhao Li
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington DC, USA
| | - Maria Yazdanbakhsh
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Departments of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Tropical Medicine, and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Remko van Leeuwen
- Amsterdam Institute for Global Development (AIGHD), Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Peter G Kremsner
- Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL), Lambaréné, Gabon; Institut für Tropenmedizin, Universität Tübingen and German Center for Infection Research, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Peter J Hotez
- Departments of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Tropical Medicine, and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Jeffrey M Bethony
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington DC, USA
| | - Martin P Grobusch
- Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL), Lambaréné, Gabon; Institut für Tropenmedizin, Universität Tübingen and German Center for Infection Research, Tübingen, Germany; Center of Tropical Medicine and Travel Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases, Division of Internal Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Ayola A Adegnika
- Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL), Lambaréné, Gabon; Institut für Tropenmedizin, Universität Tübingen and German Center for Infection Research, Tübingen, Germany; Fondation pour la Recherche Scientifique (FORS), Cotonou, Benin; Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
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6
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Hotez PJ. A Journey in Science: Molecular vaccines for global child health in troubled times of anti-science. Mol Med 2024; 30:37. [PMID: 38491420 PMCID: PMC10943906 DOI: 10.1186/s10020-024-00786-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/18/2024] Open
Abstract
My scientific life in translational medicine runs in two parallel, yet often converging paths. The first, is four-decade-long commitment to develop new vaccines for parasitic and neglected tropical diseases, as well as pandemic threats. This includes a vaccine for human hookworm infection that I began as an MD-PhD student in New York City in the 1980s, and a new low-cost COVID vaccine that reached almost 100 million people in low- and middle-income countries. Alongside this life in scientific research, is one in public engagement for vaccine and neglected disease diplomacy to ensure that people who live in extreme poverty can benefit from access to biomedical innovations. A troubling element has been the daunting task of countering rising antivaccine activism, which threatens to undermine our global vaccine ecosystem. Yet, this activity may turn out to become just as important for saving lives as developing new vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J Hotez
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
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McKim S, Kopystynsky K, Wolf N, Akbar FA, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ, Mejia R. Environmental Detection of Parasites in the Marginalized Paiute Reservations Compared to a Nearby Area. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2024; 110:457-459. [PMID: 38350146 PMCID: PMC10919181 DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.23-0712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 02/15/2024] Open
Abstract
The amounts of parasite DNA in soil samples from different playgrounds and other public areas can help identify areas of possible microbe transmission and give indications of the possible occurrence of parasite infection in nearby communities. We collected 207 soil samples from parks in Paiute indigenous tribal areas in southwestern Utah and from the higher income city of St. George, Utah, and tested them for 11 parasites that can cause human disease. Molecular tests revealed an elevated odds ratio (OR) of 3.072 (range, 1.114-8.065) for detecting the helminth Trichuris trichiura and an elevated OR of 3.036 (range, 1.101-7.966) for any protozoa (not including Acanthamoeba) in the tribal land playgrounds compared with St. George parks. These findings support previous studies showing that areas in lower socioeconomic communities, especially marginalized communities, tend to have more parasites in the soil, which may lead to higher disease prevalence rates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shannon McKim
- Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine, St. George, Utah
| | | | - Nathaniel Wolf
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Fahim A. Akbar
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Peter J. Hotez
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Rojelio Mejia
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
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8
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Rasmussen AL, Gronvall GK, Lowen AC, Goodrum F, Alwine J, Andersen KG, Anthony SJ, Baines J, Banerjee A, Broadbent AJ, Brooke CB, Campos SK, Caposio P, Casadevall A, Chan GC, Cliffe AR, Collins-McMillen D, Connell N, Damania B, Daugherty MD, Debbink K, Dermody TS, DiMaio D, Duprex WP, Emerman M, Galloway DA, Garry RF, Goldstein SA, Greninger AL, Hartman AL, Hogue BG, Horner SM, Hotez PJ, Jung JU, Kamil JP, Karst SM, Laimins L, Lakdawala SS, Landais I, Letko M, Lindenbach B, Liu SL, Luftig M, McFadden G, Mehle A, Morrison J, Moscona A, Mühlberger E, Munger J, Münger K, Murphy E, Neufeldt CJ, Nikolich JZ, O'Connor CM, Pekosz A, Permar SR, Pfeiffer JK, Popescu SV, Purdy JG, Racaniello VR, Rice CM, Runstadler JA, Sapp MJ, Scott RS, Smith GA, Sorrell EM, Speranza E, Streblow D, Tibbetts SA, Toth Z, Van Doorslaer K, Weiss SR, White EA, White TM, Wobus CE, Worobey M, Yamaoka S, Yurochko A. Virology-the path forward. J Virol 2024; 98:e0179123. [PMID: 38168672 PMCID: PMC10804978 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01791-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
In the United States (US), biosafety and biosecurity oversight of research on viruses is being reappraised. Safety in virology research is paramount and oversight frameworks should be reviewed periodically. Changes should be made with care, however, to avoid impeding science that is essential for rapidly reducing and responding to pandemic threats as well as addressing more common challenges caused by infectious diseases. Decades of research uniquely positioned the US to be able to respond to the COVID-19 crisis with astounding speed, delivering life-saving vaccines within a year of identifying the virus. We should embolden and empower this strength, which is a vital part of protecting the health, economy, and security of US citizens. Herein, we offer our perspectives on priorities for revised rules governing virology research in the US.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela L. Rasmussen
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA
| | - Gigi K. Gronvall
- Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Anice C. Lowen
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Felicia Goodrum
- Department of Immunobiology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
| | - James Alwine
- Department of Cancer Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Kristian G. Andersen
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Scripps Research, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Simon J. Anthony
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA
| | - Joel Baines
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | - Arinjay Banerjee
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada
| | - Andrew J. Broadbent
- Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Christopher B. Brooke
- Department of Microbiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
| | - Samuel K. Campos
- Department of Immunobiology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
| | - Patrizia Caposio
- Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute, Oregon Health and Science University, Beaverton, Oregon, USA
| | - Arturo Casadevall
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Gary C. Chan
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, SUNY Upstate Medical Center, Syracuse, New York, USA
| | - Anna R. Cliffe
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | | | - Nancy Connell
- Department of Medicine, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey, USA
| | - Blossom Damania
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Matthew D. Daugherty
- Department of Molecular Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Kari Debbink
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Terence S. Dermody
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Daniel DiMaio
- Department of Genetics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - W. Paul Duprex
- Center for Vaccine Research, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Michael Emerman
- Human Biology Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Denise A. Galloway
- Human Biology Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Robert F. Garry
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
| | - Stephen A. Goldstein
- Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
| | - Alexander L. Greninger
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Amy L. Hartman
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Brenda G. Hogue
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Stacy M. Horner
- Department of Integrative Immunobiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Peter J. Hotez
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Jae U. Jung
- Department of Cancer Biology, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
| | - Jeremy P. Kamil
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA
| | - Stephanie M. Karst
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Lou Laimins
- Department of Microbiology, Ohio State University, Wooster, Ohio, USA
| | - Seema S. Lakdawala
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Igor Landais
- Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute, Oregon Health and Science University, Beaverton, Oregon, USA
| | - Michael Letko
- Paul G. Allen School for Global Health, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA
| | - Brett Lindenbach
- Department of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale University, New Haven, USA
| | - Shan-Lu Liu
- Department of Microbiology, Ohio State University, Wooster, Ohio, USA
- Viruses and Emerging Pathogens Program, Infectious Diseases Institute, Ohio State University, Wooster, Ohio, USA
| | - Micah Luftig
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Grant McFadden
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Andrew Mehle
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Juliet Morrison
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Anne Moscona
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
- Department of Physiology, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
- Department of Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Elke Mühlberger
- Department of Virology, Immunology, and Microbiology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Joshua Munger
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA
| | - Karl Münger
- Department of Developmental, Molecular, and Chemical Biology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Eain Murphy
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, SUNY Upstate Medical Center, Syracuse, New York, USA
| | | | - Janko Z. Nikolich
- Department of Immunobiology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
- Aegis Consortium for a Pandemic-Free Future, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
| | | | - Andrew Pekosz
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Sallie R. Permar
- Department of Pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Julie K. Pfeiffer
- Department of Microbiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
| | - Saskia V. Popescu
- Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - John G. Purdy
- Department of Immunobiology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
| | - Vincent R. Racaniello
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Charles M. Rice
- Laboratory of Virology and Infectious Disease, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Jonathan A. Runstadler
- Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, North Grafton, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Martin J. Sapp
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA
| | - Rona S. Scott
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA
| | - Gregory A. Smith
- Department of Microbiology, Ohio State University, Wooster, Ohio, USA
| | - Erin M. Sorrell
- Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Emily Speranza
- Florida Research and Innovation Center, Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, Port St. Lucie, Florida, USA
| | - Daniel Streblow
- Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute, Oregon Health and Science University, Beaverton, Oregon, USA
| | - Scott A. Tibbetts
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Zsolt Toth
- Department of Oral Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | | | - Susan R. Weiss
- Department of Microbiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Elizabeth A. White
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Timothy M. White
- Department of Immunobiology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
| | - Christiane E. Wobus
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Michael Worobey
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
| | - Satoko Yamaoka
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
| | - Andrew Yurochko
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA
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Hotez PJ. Health Disinformation-Gaining Strength, Becoming Infinite. JAMA Intern Med 2024; 184:96-97. [PMID: 37955920 DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.5946] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Peter J Hotez
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston
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Hotez PJ. Global Vaccine Access Demands Combating Both Inequity And Hesitancy. Health Aff (Millwood) 2023; 42:1681-1688. [PMID: 38048497 DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2023.00775] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/06/2023]
Abstract
The world's population suffered from lack of access to COVID-19 vaccines. Although inequities in vaccine availability for low- and middle-income countries are widely cited as a component of this lack of access, there is a related but less discussed component: vaccine refusal or hesitancy. Regarding the first component (global vaccine inequities), there are multiple dimensions to this topic and its causes, but for low- and middle-income countries, the most glaring one resulted from upstream science policies that prioritized speed and innovation at the expense of technologies that could be produced by low- and middle-income country vaccine producers. Regarding the second component (vaccine refusal or hesitancy), as COVID-19 waves swept across the United States in 2021, thousands of unvaccinated Americans perished from refusing COVID-19 immunizations. These deaths occurred because of an expanding antiscience ecosystem that now extends into low- and middle-income countries and could block the uptake of new vaccines or routine childhood immunizations. Future vaccine policies must address both elements of global access and their political identities. This recommendation reflects the author's experiences as a vaccine scientist who both develops affordable COVID-19 and neglected disease vaccines and lives on the front lines combating vaccine refusal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J Hotez
- Peter J. Hotez , Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
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Hotez PJ, Bottazzi ME, Kaye PM, Lee BY, Puchner KP. Neglected tropical disease vaccines: hookworm, leishmaniasis, and schistosomiasis. Vaccine 2023; 41 Suppl 2:S176-S179. [PMID: 38407985 PMCID: PMC10713477 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2023.04.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2022] [Revised: 03/29/2023] [Accepted: 04/06/2023] [Indexed: 02/28/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Peter J Hotez
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston TX, USA.
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston TX, USA
| | - Paul M Kaye
- York Biomedical Research Institute, Hull York Medical School, University of York, Heslington York, UK
| | - Bruce Y Lee
- Center for Advanced Technology and Communication in Health (CATCH), Public Health Informatics Computational and Operations Research (PHICOR), and Department of Health Policy and Management, City University of New York, School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA
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12
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Nguyen DM, Poveda C, Pollet J, Gusovsky F, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ, Jones KM. The impact of vaccine-linked chemotherapy on liver health in a mouse model of chronic Trypanosoma cruzi infection. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2023; 17:e0011519. [PMID: 37988389 PMCID: PMC10697595 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0011519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2023] [Revised: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/23/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Chagas disease, chronic infection with Trypanosoma cruzi, mainly manifests as cardiac disease. However, the liver is important for both controlling parasite burdens and metabolizing drugs. Notably, high doses of anti-parasitic drug benznidazole (BNZ) causes liver damage. We previously showed that combining low dose BNZ with a prototype therapeutic vaccine is a dose sparing strategy that effectively reduced T. cruzi induced cardiac damage. However, the impact of this treatment on liver health is unknown. Therefore, we evaluated several markers of liver health after treatment with low dose BNZ plus the vaccine therapy in comparison to a curative dose of BNZ. METHODOLOGY Female BALB/c mice were infected with a bioluminescent T. cruzi H1 clone for approximately 70 days, then randomly divided into groups of 15 mice each. Mice were treated with a 25mg/kg BNZ, 25μg Tc24-C4 protein/ 5μg E6020-SE (Vaccine), 25mg/kg BNZ followed by vaccine, or 100mg/kg BNZ (curative dose). At study endpoints we evaluated hepatomegaly, parasite burden by quantitative PCR, cellular infiltration by histology, and expression of B-cell translocation gene 2(BTG2) and Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα) by RT-PCR. Levels of alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were quantified from serum. RESULTS Curative BNZ treatment significantly reduced hepatomegaly, liver parasite burdens, and the quantity of cellular infiltrate, but significantly elevated serum levels of ALT, AST, and LDH. Low BNZ plus vaccine did not significantly affect hepatomegaly, parasite burdens or the quantity of cellular infiltrate, but only elevated ALT and AST. Low dose BNZ significantly decreased expression of both BTG2 and PPARα, and curative BNZ reduced expression of BTG2 while low BNZ plus vaccine had no impact. CONCLUSIONS These data confirm toxicity associated with curative doses of BNZ and suggest that while dose sparing low BNZ plus vaccine treatment does not reduce parasite burdens, it better preserves liver health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duc Minh Nguyen
- Center for Comparative Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Cristina Poveda
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Jeroen Pollet
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Fabian Gusovsky
- Global Health Research, Eisai, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America
| | - Peter J. Hotez
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America
- James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, United States of America
| | - Kathryn Marie Jones
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
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13
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Hotez PJ. Vaccine Preventable Disease and Vaccine Hesitancy. Med Clin North Am 2023; 107:979-987. [PMID: 37806729 DOI: 10.1016/j.mcna.2023.05.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/10/2023]
Abstract
Global immunization programs have saved tens of millions of lives over the last 2 decades. Now, the recent successes of COVID-19 vaccines having saved more than 3 million lives in North America during the pandemic may open the door to accelerate technologies for other emerging infection vaccines. New vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus, norovirus, influenza, herpes simplex virus, shingles, dengue fever, enteric bacterial infections, malaria, and Chagas disease are advancing through clinical development and could become ready for delivery over the next 5 years. The successful delivery of these new vaccines may require expanded advocacy and communications efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J Hotez
- Department of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Medical Center, One Baylor Plaza, Suite 164a, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
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14
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Liu Z, Ulrich vonBargen R, Kendricks AL, Wheeler K, Leão AC, Sankaranarayanan K, Dean DA, Kane SS, Hossain E, Pollet J, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ, Jones KM, McCall LI. Localized cardiac small molecule trajectories and persistent chemical sequelae in experimental Chagas disease. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6769. [PMID: 37880260 PMCID: PMC10600178 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42247-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/04/2023] [Indexed: 10/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Post-infectious conditions present major health burdens but remain poorly understood. In Chagas disease (CD), caused by Trypanosoma cruzi parasites, antiparasitic agents that successfully clear T. cruzi do not always improve clinical outcomes. In this study, we reveal differential small molecule trajectories between cardiac regions during chronic T. cruzi infection, matching with characteristic CD apical aneurysm sites. Incomplete, region-specific, cardiac small molecule restoration is observed in animals treated with the antiparasitic benznidazole. In contrast, superior restoration of the cardiac small molecule profile is observed for a combination treatment of reduced-dose benznidazole plus an immunotherapy, even with less parasite burden reduction. Overall, these results reveal molecular mechanisms of CD treatment based on simultaneous effects on the pathogen and on host small molecule responses, and expand our understanding of clinical treatment failure in CD. This link between infection and subsequent persistent small molecule perturbation broadens our understanding of infectious disease sequelae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zongyuan Liu
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Rebecca Ulrich vonBargen
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | | | - Kate Wheeler
- Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Ana Carolina Leão
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Krithivasan Sankaranarayanan
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Danya A Dean
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Shelley S Kane
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Ekram Hossain
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Jeroen Pollet
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Peter J Hotez
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Kathryn M Jones
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
| | - Laura-Isobel McCall
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA.
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McKim S, Kopystynsky K, Wolf N, Akbar FA, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ, Mejia R. Environmental detection of parasites in the marginalized Paiute reservations compared to a nearby area. medRxiv 2023:2023.10.24.23297407. [PMID: 37961205 PMCID: PMC10635189 DOI: 10.1101/2023.10.24.23297407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
The amounts of parasite DNA in soil samples from different playgrounds and other public areas can help identify areas of possible microbe transmission as well as giving indications of possible occurrence of parasite infection in nearby communities. We collected 207 soil samples from parks located on Paiute indigenous tribal areas in southwest Utah and from higher income city of St. George, Utah, and tested them for the presence of 11 parasites that can cause human disease. Molecular tests revealed elevated odds ratio of detecting the helminth Trichuris trichiura 3.072 (1.114 to 8.065) and any protozoa (not including Acanthamoeba ) 3.036 (1.101 to 7.966) in the tribal land playgrounds compared to St. George parks. These findings support previous studies showing that areas in lower socioeconomic communities, especially marginalized communities, tend to have higher presence of parasites in the soil that may lead to higher rates of disease prevalence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J Hotez
- From the Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston (P.J.H.); and the Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA (A.D.L.)
| | - Angelle Desiree LaBeaud
- From the Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston (P.J.H.); and the Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA (A.D.L.)
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Mahoney R, Hotez PJ, Bottazzi ME. Global regulatory reforms to promote equitable vaccine access in the next pandemic. PLOS Glob Public Health 2023; 3:e0002482. [PMID: 37851688 PMCID: PMC10584090 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0002482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2023]
Abstract
There is broad consensus that the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic was inadequate, leading to unacceptable levels of avoidable morbidity and mortality. Three strategic missteps led to the lack of equitable vaccine access: The heavy reliance on commercial vaccine manufacturers in high-income countries (HICs) versus low- and middle-income countries (LMICs); the emergence of vaccine nationalism restricting and delaying the supply of vaccines to LMICs; and an inadequate support or recognition for LMIC national regulatory authorities. To avoid these inequities in a future pandemic, we focus on three successful vaccine development and technology transfer case studies-the Hepatitis B vaccine produced in South Korea in the 1980s; the Meningitis A vaccine for Africa led by Program for Appropriate Technologies in Health (PATH) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in the 2000s; and a recombinant SARS CoV-2 protein-based vaccine technology from the Texas Children's Hospital transferred to India and to Indonesia. In addition to expanding support for academic or non-profit product development partnerships, our analysis finds that an essential step is the strengthening of selected LMIC regulatory systems to become Stringent Regulatory Authorities (SRAs), together with a re-prioritization of the WHO Prequalification (PQ) system to ensure early vaccine availability in LMICs especially during pandemics. Advancing LMIC National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) to Stringent Regulatory Authorities (SRAs) status will require substantial resources, but the benefits for future pandemic control and for health in LMIC would be immense. We call on the WHO, United Nation (UN) agencies and SRAs, to collaborate and implement a comprehensive roadmap to support LMIC regulators to achieve stringent status by 2030.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Mahoney
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Peter J. Hotez
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America
- James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, United States of America
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America
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18
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Thimmiraju SR, Adhikari R, Villar MJ, Lee J, Liu Z, Kundu R, Chen YL, Sharma S, Ghei K, Keegan B, Versteeg L, Gillespie PM, Ciciriello A, Islam NY, Poveda C, Uzcategui N, Chen WH, Kimata JT, Zhan B, Strych U, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ, Pollet J. A Recombinant Protein XBB.1.5 RBD/Alum/CpG Vaccine Elicits High Neutralizing Antibody Titers against Omicron Subvariants of SARS-CoV-2. Vaccines (Basel) 2023; 11:1557. [PMID: 37896960 PMCID: PMC10610638 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11101557] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Revised: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
(1) Background: We previously reported the development of a recombinant protein SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, consisting of the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, adjuvanted with aluminum hydroxide (alum) and CpG oligonucleotides. In mice and non-human primates, our wild-type (WT) RBD vaccine induced high neutralizing antibody titers against the WT isolate of the virus, and, with partners in India and Indonesia, it was later developed into two closely resembling human vaccines, Corbevax and Indovac. Here, we describe the development and characterization of a next-generation vaccine adapted to the recently emerging XBB variants of SARS-CoV-2. (2) Methods: We conducted preclinical studies in mice using a novel yeast-produced SARS-CoV-2 XBB.1.5 RBD subunit vaccine candidate formulated with alum and CpG. We examined the neutralization profile of sera obtained from mice vaccinated twice intramuscularly at a 21-day interval with the XBB.1.5-based RBD vaccine, against WT, Beta, Delta, BA.4, BQ.1.1, BA.2.75.2, XBB.1.16, XBB.1.5, and EG.5.1 SARS-CoV-2 pseudoviruses. (3) Results: The XBB.1.5 RBD/CpG/alum vaccine elicited a robust antibody response in mice. Furthermore, the serum from vaccinated mice demonstrated potent neutralization against the XBB.1.5 pseudovirus as well as several other Omicron pseudoviruses. However, regardless of the high antibody cross-reactivity with ELISA, the anti-XBB.1.5 RBD antigen serum showed low neutralizing titers against the WT and Delta virus variants. (4) Conclusions: Whereas we observed modest cross-neutralization against Omicron subvariants with the sera from mice vaccinated with the WT RBD/CpG/Alum vaccine or with the BA.4/5-based vaccine, the sera raised against the XBB.1.5 RBD showed robust cross-neutralization. These findings underscore the imminent opportunity for an updated vaccine formulation utilizing the XBB.1.5 RBD antigen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Syamala Rani Thimmiraju
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX 77030, USA (M.J.V.); (J.L.); (Z.L.); (R.K.); (Y.-L.C.); (A.C.); (C.P.); (N.U.); (W.-H.C.); (B.Z.); (M.E.B.)
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Rakesh Adhikari
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX 77030, USA (M.J.V.); (J.L.); (Z.L.); (R.K.); (Y.-L.C.); (A.C.); (C.P.); (N.U.); (W.-H.C.); (B.Z.); (M.E.B.)
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Maria Jose Villar
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX 77030, USA (M.J.V.); (J.L.); (Z.L.); (R.K.); (Y.-L.C.); (A.C.); (C.P.); (N.U.); (W.-H.C.); (B.Z.); (M.E.B.)
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Jungsoon Lee
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX 77030, USA (M.J.V.); (J.L.); (Z.L.); (R.K.); (Y.-L.C.); (A.C.); (C.P.); (N.U.); (W.-H.C.); (B.Z.); (M.E.B.)
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Zhuyun Liu
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX 77030, USA (M.J.V.); (J.L.); (Z.L.); (R.K.); (Y.-L.C.); (A.C.); (C.P.); (N.U.); (W.-H.C.); (B.Z.); (M.E.B.)
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Rakhi Kundu
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX 77030, USA (M.J.V.); (J.L.); (Z.L.); (R.K.); (Y.-L.C.); (A.C.); (C.P.); (N.U.); (W.-H.C.); (B.Z.); (M.E.B.)
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Yi-Lin Chen
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX 77030, USA (M.J.V.); (J.L.); (Z.L.); (R.K.); (Y.-L.C.); (A.C.); (C.P.); (N.U.); (W.-H.C.); (B.Z.); (M.E.B.)
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Suman Sharma
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (S.S.); (K.G.)
| | - Karm Ghei
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (S.S.); (K.G.)
| | - Brian Keegan
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX 77030, USA (M.J.V.); (J.L.); (Z.L.); (R.K.); (Y.-L.C.); (A.C.); (C.P.); (N.U.); (W.-H.C.); (B.Z.); (M.E.B.)
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Leroy Versteeg
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX 77030, USA (M.J.V.); (J.L.); (Z.L.); (R.K.); (Y.-L.C.); (A.C.); (C.P.); (N.U.); (W.-H.C.); (B.Z.); (M.E.B.)
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Portia M. Gillespie
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX 77030, USA (M.J.V.); (J.L.); (Z.L.); (R.K.); (Y.-L.C.); (A.C.); (C.P.); (N.U.); (W.-H.C.); (B.Z.); (M.E.B.)
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Allan Ciciriello
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX 77030, USA (M.J.V.); (J.L.); (Z.L.); (R.K.); (Y.-L.C.); (A.C.); (C.P.); (N.U.); (W.-H.C.); (B.Z.); (M.E.B.)
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Nelufa Y. Islam
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX 77030, USA (M.J.V.); (J.L.); (Z.L.); (R.K.); (Y.-L.C.); (A.C.); (C.P.); (N.U.); (W.-H.C.); (B.Z.); (M.E.B.)
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Cristina Poveda
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX 77030, USA (M.J.V.); (J.L.); (Z.L.); (R.K.); (Y.-L.C.); (A.C.); (C.P.); (N.U.); (W.-H.C.); (B.Z.); (M.E.B.)
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Nestor Uzcategui
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX 77030, USA (M.J.V.); (J.L.); (Z.L.); (R.K.); (Y.-L.C.); (A.C.); (C.P.); (N.U.); (W.-H.C.); (B.Z.); (M.E.B.)
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Wen-Hsiang Chen
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX 77030, USA (M.J.V.); (J.L.); (Z.L.); (R.K.); (Y.-L.C.); (A.C.); (C.P.); (N.U.); (W.-H.C.); (B.Z.); (M.E.B.)
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Jason T. Kimata
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (S.S.); (K.G.)
| | - Bin Zhan
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX 77030, USA (M.J.V.); (J.L.); (Z.L.); (R.K.); (Y.-L.C.); (A.C.); (C.P.); (N.U.); (W.-H.C.); (B.Z.); (M.E.B.)
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Ulrich Strych
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX 77030, USA (M.J.V.); (J.L.); (Z.L.); (R.K.); (Y.-L.C.); (A.C.); (C.P.); (N.U.); (W.-H.C.); (B.Z.); (M.E.B.)
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX 77030, USA (M.J.V.); (J.L.); (Z.L.); (R.K.); (Y.-L.C.); (A.C.); (C.P.); (N.U.); (W.-H.C.); (B.Z.); (M.E.B.)
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76706, USA
- James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA
| | - Peter J. Hotez
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX 77030, USA (M.J.V.); (J.L.); (Z.L.); (R.K.); (Y.-L.C.); (A.C.); (C.P.); (N.U.); (W.-H.C.); (B.Z.); (M.E.B.)
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76706, USA
- James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA
| | - Jeroen Pollet
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX 77030, USA (M.J.V.); (J.L.); (Z.L.); (R.K.); (Y.-L.C.); (A.C.); (C.P.); (N.U.); (W.-H.C.); (B.Z.); (M.E.B.)
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
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19
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Yao L, Chemaitelly H, Goldman E, Gudina EK, Khalil A, Ahmed R, James AB, Roca A, Fallah MP, Macnab A, Cho WC, Eikelboom J, Qamar FN, Kremsner P, Oliu-Barton M, Sisa I, Tadesse BT, Marks F, Wang L, Kim JH, Meng X, Wang Y, Fly AD, Wang CY, Day SW, Howard SC, Graff JC, Maida M, Ray K, Franco-Paredes C, Mashe T, Ngongo N, Kaseya J, Ndembi N, Hu Y, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ, Ishii KJ, Wang G, Sun D, Aleya L, Gu W. Time to establish an international vaccine candidate pool for potential highly infectious respiratory disease: a community's view. EClinicalMedicine 2023; 64:102222. [PMID: 37811488 PMCID: PMC10550631 DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.102222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2023] [Revised: 08/26/2023] [Accepted: 09/04/2023] [Indexed: 10/10/2023] Open
Abstract
In counteracting highly infectious and disruptive respiratory diseases such as COVID-19, vaccination remains the primary and safest way to prevent disease, reduce the severity of illness, and save lives. Unfortunately, vaccination is often not the first intervention deployed for a new pandemic, as it takes time to develop and test vaccines, and confirmation of safety requires a period of observation after vaccination to detect potential late-onset vaccine-associated adverse events. In the meantime, nonpharmacologic public health interventions such as mask-wearing and social distancing can provide some degree of protection. As climate change, with its environmental impacts on pathogen evolution and international mobility continue to rise, highly infectious respiratory diseases will likely emerge more frequently and their impact is expected to be substantial. How quickly a safe and efficacious vaccine can be deployed against rising infectious respiratory diseases may be the most important challenge that humanity will face in the near future. While some organizations are engaged in addressing the World Health Organization's "blueprint for priority diseases", the lack of worldwide preparedness, and the uncertainty around universal vaccine availability, remain major concerns. We therefore propose the establishment of an international candidate vaccine pool repository for potential respiratory diseases, supported by multiple stakeholders and countries that contribute facilities, technologies, and other medical and financial resources. The types and categories of candidate vaccines can be determined based on information from previous pandemics and epidemics. Each participant country or region can focus on developing one or a few vaccine types or categories, together covering most if not all possible potential infectious diseases. The safety of these vaccines can be tested using animal models. Information for effective candidates that can be potentially applied to humans will then be shared across all participants. When a new pandemic arises, these pre-selected and tested vaccines can be quickly tested in RCTs for human populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lan Yao
- Department of Nutrition and Health Science, College of Health, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306, USA
- Department of Orthopedic Surgery and BME-Campbell Clinic, University of Tennessee Health Science Centre, Memphis, TN 38163, USA
| | - Hiam Chemaitelly
- Infectious Disease Epidemiology Group, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Cornell University, Doha, Qatar
- World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Disease Epidemiology Analytics on HIV/AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Infections, and Viral Hepatitis, Weill Cornell Medicine–Qatar, Cornell University, Qatar Foundation – Education City, Doha, Qatar
- Department of Population Health Sciences, Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Emanuel Goldman
- Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07103, USA
| | - Esayas Kebede Gudina
- Department of Internal Medicine, Jimma University Institute of Health, Jimma, Ethiopia
| | - Asma Khalil
- Fetal Medicine Unit, St George’s Hospital, St George’s University of London, London, UK
- Vascular Biology Research Centre, Molecular and Clinical Sciences Research Institute, St George’s University of London, London, UK
| | - Rahaman Ahmed
- Cell Biology and Genetics Department, University of Lagos, Lagos 101017, Nigeria
- Centre for Human Virology and Genomics, Microbiology Department, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos 100001, Nigeria
| | - Ayorinde Babatunde James
- Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Yaba, Lagos State, Nigeria
| | - Anna Roca
- Medical Research Council Unit, The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Fajara 273, The Gambia
| | - Mosoka Papa Fallah
- Refuge Place International, Monrovia, Liberia
- Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy and Research, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
- Africa Centre for Disease Control, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Andrew Macnab
- The Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS), Wallenberg Research Centre at Stellenbosch University, South Africa
| | - William C. Cho
- Department of Clinical Oncology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
| | - John Eikelboom
- Population Health Research Institute, McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences Hamilton, Canada
- Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
| | - Farah Naz Qamar
- Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Aga Khan University Hospital, National Stadium Rd, Karachi, Sindh 74800, Pakistan
| | - Peter Kremsner
- Institut für Tropenmedizin, Universität Tübingen, Germany
- Centre de Recherches Medicales de Lambarene, Gabon
| | - Miquel Oliu-Barton
- Université Paris Dauphine – PSL, Pl. du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny, Paris 75016, France
- Bruegel, Rue de la Charité 33, Brussels 1210, Belgium
| | - Ivan Sisa
- College of Health Sciences, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito 170901, Ecuador
| | | | - Florian Marks
- International Vaccine Institute, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Lishi Wang
- Department of Basic Medicine, Inner Mongolia Medical University, Jinshan Development Zone, Huhhot, China
| | - Jerome H. Kim
- International Vaccine Institute, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Seoul National University, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Xia Meng
- Department of Neurology, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Yongjun Wang
- Department of Neurology, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Alyce D. Fly
- Department of Nutrition and Health Science, College of Health, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306, USA
| | - Cong-Yi Wang
- NHC Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The Centre for Biomedical Research, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China
| | - Sara W. Day
- College of Nursing, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Scott C. Howard
- College of Nursing, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - J. Carolyn Graff
- College of Nursing, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Marcello Maida
- Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Unit, S. Elia-Raimondi Hospital, Caltanissetta 93100, Italy
| | - Kunal Ray
- School of Biological Science, Ramkrishna Mission Vivekananda Education & Research Institute, Narendrapur 700103, West Bengal, India
| | - Carlos Franco-Paredes
- Hospital Infantil de Mexico, Federico Gomez, Mexico
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, Colorado State University, USA
| | - Tapfumanei Mashe
- One Health Office, Ministry of Health and Child Care, Harare, Zimbabwe
- World Health Organization, Harare, Zimbabwe
| | | | | | | | - Yu Hu
- Institute of Haematology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1277 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan 430022, China
- Hubei Clinical and Research Centre of Thrombosis and Hemostasis, Wuhan, China
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Department of Pediatrics, Texas Children's Hospital Centre for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Molecular Virology & Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Peter J. Hotez
- Department of Pediatrics, Texas Children's Hospital Centre for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Molecular Virology & Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Ken J. Ishii
- Division of Vaccine Science, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- International Vaccine Design Centre, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- Centre for Vaccine Adjuvant Research, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition, Osaka, Japan
| | - Gang Wang
- Department of Pancreatic and Biliary Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
| | - Dianjun Sun
- Centre for Endemic Disease Control, Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Harbin Medical University; Key Laboratory of Etiologic Epidemiology, Education Bureau of Heilongjiang Province & Ministry of Health 23618104, 157 Baojian Road, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150081, China
| | - Lotfi Aleya
- Chrono-Environnement Laboratory, UMR CNRS 6249, Bourgogne Franche-Comté University, Besançon Cedex F-25030, France
| | - Weikuan Gu
- Department of Orthopedic Surgery and BME-Campbell Clinic, University of Tennessee Health Science Centre, Memphis, TN 38163, USA
- Research Service, Memphis VA Medical Centre, 1030 Jefferson Avenue, Memphis, TN 38104, USA
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20
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Poveda C, Leão AC, Mancino C, Taraballi F, Chen YL, Adhikari R, Villar MJ, Kundu R, Nguyen DM, Versteeg L, Strych U, Hotez PJ, Bottazzi ME, Pollet J, Jones KM. Heterologous mRNA-protein vaccination with Tc24 induces a robust cellular immune response against Trypanosoma cruzi, characterized by an increased level of polyfunctional CD8 + T-cells. Curr Res Immunol 2023; 4:100066. [PMID: 37534309 PMCID: PMC10393535 DOI: 10.1016/j.crimmu.2023.100066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Revised: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 08/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Tc24 is a Trypanosoma cruzi-derived flagellar protein that, when formulated with a TLR-4 agonist adjuvant, induces a balanced immune response in mice, elevating IgG2a antibody titers and IFN-γ levels. Furthermore, vaccination with the recombinant Tc24 protein can reduce parasite levels and improve survival during acute infection. Although some mRNA vaccines have been proven to elicit a stronger immune response than some protein vaccines, they have not been used against T. cruzi. This work evaluates the immunogenicity of a heterologous prime/boost vaccination regimen using protein and mRNA-based Tc24 vaccines. Mice (C57BL/6) were vaccinated twice subcutaneously, three weeks apart, with either the Tc24-C4 protein + glucopyranosyl A (GLA)-squalene emulsion, Tc24 mRNA Lipid Nanoparticles, or with heterologous protein/mRNA or mRNA/protein combinations, respectively. Two weeks after the last vaccination, mice were euthanized, spleens were collected to measure antigen-specific T-cell responses, and sera were collected to evaluate IgG titers and isotypes. Heterologous presentation of the Tc24 antigen generated antigen-specific polyfunctional CD8+ T cells, a balanced Th1/Th2/Th17 cytokine profile, and a balanced humoral response with increased serum IgG, IgG1 and IgG2c antibody responses. We conclude that heterologous vaccination using Tc24 mRNA to prime and Tc24-C4 protein to boost induces a broad and robust antigen-specific immune response that was equivalent or superior to two doses of a homologous protein vaccine, the homologous mRNA vaccine and the heterologous Tc24-C4 Protein/mRNA vaccine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Poveda
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Ana Carolina Leão
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Chiara Mancino
- Center for Musculoskeletal Regeneration, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX, USA
- Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Francesca Taraballi
- Center for Musculoskeletal Regeneration, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX, USA
- Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Yi-Lin Chen
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Rakesh Adhikari
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Maria Jose Villar
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Rakhi Kundu
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Duc M. Nguyen
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Leroy Versteeg
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX, USA
- Cell Biology and Immunology Group, Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands
| | - Ulrich Strych
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Peter J. Hotez
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA
| | - Jeroen Pollet
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Kathryn M. Jones
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
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21
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Nguyen DM, Poveda C, Pollet J, Gusovsky F, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ, Jones KM. The impact of vaccine-linked chemotherapy on liver health in a mouse model of chronic Trypanosoma cruzi infection. bioRxiv 2023:2023.07.11.548497. [PMID: 37503013 PMCID: PMC10369866 DOI: 10.1101/2023.07.11.548497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Abstract
Background Chagas disease, chronic infection with Trypanosoma cruzi, mainly manifests as cardiac disease. However, the liver is important for both controlling parasite burdens and metabolizing drugs. Notably, high doses of anti-parasitic drug benznidazole (BNZ) causes liver damage. We previously showed that combining low dose BNZ with a prototype therapeutic vaccine is a dose sparing strategy that effectively reduced T. cruzi induced cardiac damage. However, the impact of this treatment on liver health is unknown. Therefore, we evaluated several markers of liver health after treatment with low dose BNZ plus the vaccine therapy in comparison to a curative dose of BNZ. Methodology Female BALB/c mice were infected with a bioluminescent T. cruzi H1 clone for approximately 70 days, then randomly divided into groups of 15 mice each. Mice were treated with a 25mg/kg BNZ, 25μg Tc24-C4 protein/5μg E6020-SE (Vaccine), 25mg/kg BNZ followed by vaccine, or 100mg/kg BNZ (curative dose). At study endpoints we evaluated hepatomegaly, parasite burden by quantitative PCR, cellular infiltration by histology, and expression of B-cell translocation gene 2(BTG2) and Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα) by RT-PCR. Levels of alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were quantified from serum. Results Curative BNZ treatment significantly reduced hepatomegaly, liver parasite burdens, and the quantity of cellular infiltrate, but significantly elevated serum levels of ALT, AST, and LDH. Low BNZ plus vaccine did not significantly affect hepatomegaly, parasite burdens or the quantity of cellular infiltrate, but only elevated ALT and AST. Low dose BNZ significantly decreased expression of both BTG2 and PPARα, and curative BNZ reduced expression of BTG2 while low BNZ plus vaccine had no impact. Conclusions These data confirm toxicity associated with curative doses of BNZ and suggest that the dose sparing low BNZ plus vaccine treatment better preserves liver health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duc Minh Nguyen
- Center for Comparative Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Cristina Poveda
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Jeroen Pollet
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | | | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America
| | - Peter J. Hotez
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America
- James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, United States of America
| | - Kathryn M. Jones
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
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22
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Castañeda S, Muñoz M, Hotez PJ, Bottazzi ME, Paniz-Mondolfi AE, Jones KM, Mejia R, Poveda C, Ramírez JD. Microbiome Alterations Driven by Trypanosoma cruzi Infection in Two Disjunctive Murine Models. Microbiol Spectr 2023; 11:e0019923. [PMID: 37140369 PMCID: PMC10269900 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.00199-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2023] [Accepted: 04/08/2023] [Indexed: 05/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Alterations caused by Trypanosoma cruzi in the composition of gut microbiome may play a vital role in the host-parasite interactions that shapes physiology and immune responses against infection. Thus, a better understanding of this parasite-host-microbiome interaction may yield relevant information in the comprehension of the pathophysiology of the disease and the development of new prophylactic and therapeutic alternatives. Therefore, we implemented a murine model with two mice strains (BALB/c and C57BL/6) to evaluate the impact of Trypanosoma cruzi (Tulahuen strain) infection on the gut microbiome utilizing cytokine profiling and shotgun metagenomics. Higher parasite burdens were observed in cardiac and intestinal tissues, including changes in anti-inflammatory (interleukin-4 [IL-4] and IL-10) and proinflammatory (gamma interferon, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and IL-6) cytokines. Bacterial species such as Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, Faecalibaculum rodentium, and Lactobacillus johnsonii showed a decrease in relative abundance, while Akkermansia muciniphila and Staphylococcus xylosus increased. Likewise, as infection progressed, there was a decrease in gene abundances related to metabolic processes such as lipid synthesis (including short-chain fatty acids) and amino acid synthesis (including branched-chain amino acids). High-quality metagenomic assembled genomes of L. johnsonii and A. muciniphila among other species were reconstructed, confirming, functional changes associated with metabolic pathways that are directly affected by the loss of abundance of specific bacterial taxa. IMPORTANCE Chagas disease (CD) is caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, presenting acute and chronic phases where cardiomyopathy, megaesophagus, and/or megacolon stand out. During the course of its life cycle, the parasite has an important gastrointestinal tract transit that leads to severe forms of CD. The intestinal microbiome plays an essential role in the immunological, physiological, and metabolic homeostasis of the host. Therefore, parasite-host-intestinal microbiome interactions may provide information on certain biological and pathophysiological aspects related to CD. The present study proposes a comprehensive evaluation of the potential effects of this interaction based on metagenomic and immunological data from two mice models with different genetic, immunological, and microbiome backgrounds. Our findings suggest that there are alterations in the immune and microbiome profiles that affect several metabolic pathways that can potentially promote the infection's establishment, progression, and persistence. In addition, this information may prove essential in the research of new prophylactic and therapeutic alternatives for CD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergio Castañeda
- Centro de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Biotecnología-UR (CIMBIUR), Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Marina Muñoz
- Centro de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Biotecnología-UR (CIMBIUR), Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Peter J. Hotez
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, USA
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, USA
| | - Alberto E. Paniz-Mondolfi
- Molecular Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Pathology, Molecular and Cell-Based Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
- Incubadora Venezolana de la Ciencia, Barquisimeto, Venezuela
| | - Kathryn M. Jones
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Rojelio Mejia
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Cristina Poveda
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Juan David Ramírez
- Centro de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Biotecnología-UR (CIMBIUR), Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia
- Molecular Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Pathology, Molecular and Cell-Based Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
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23
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Privor-Dumm L, Excler JL, Gilbert S, Abdool Karim SS, Hotez PJ, Thompson D, Kim JH. Vaccine access, equity and justice: COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination. BMJ Glob Health 2023; 8:e011881. [PMID: 37290896 PMCID: PMC10254992 DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2023-011881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2023] [Accepted: 03/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Although significant progress has been made in achieving goals for COVID-19 vaccine access, the quest for equity and justice remains an unfinished agenda. Vaccine nationalism has prompted calls for new approaches to achieve equitable access and justice not only for vaccines but also for vaccination. This includes ensuring country and community participation in global discussions and that local needs to strengthen health systems, address issues related to social determinants of health, build trust and leverage acceptance to vaccines, are addressed. Regional vaccine technology and manufacturing hubs are promising approaches to address access challenges and must be integrated with efforts to ensure demand. The current situation underlines the need for access, demand and system strengthening to be addressed along with local priorities for justice to be achieved. Innovations to improve accountability and leverage existing platforms are also needed. Sustained political will and investment is required to ensure ongoing production of non-pandemic vaccines and sustained demand, particularly when perceived threat of disease appears to be waning. Several recommendations are made to govern towards justice including codesigning the path forward with low-income and middle-income countries; establishing stronger accountability measures; establishing dedicated groups to engage with countries and manufacturing hubs to ensure that the affordable supply and predictable demand are in balance; addressing country needs for health system strengthening through leveraging existing health and development platforms and delivering on product presentations informed by country needs. Even if difficult, we must converge on a definition of justice well in advance of the next pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lois Privor-Dumm
- Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health International Vaccine Access Center, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Jean-Louis Excler
- Director General's Office, International Vaccine Institute, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Sarah Gilbert
- Pandemic Sciences Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
| | - Salim S Abdool Karim
- Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, New York, New York, USA
- Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa, Durban, South Africa
| | - Peter J Hotez
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
| | | | - Jerome H Kim
- Director General's Office, International Vaccine Institute, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Seoul National University College of Natural Sciences, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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24
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Excler JL, Saville M, Privor-Dumm L, Gilbert S, Hotez PJ, Thompson D, Abdool-Karim S, Kim JH. Factors, enablers and challenges for COVID-19 vaccine development. BMJ Glob Health 2023; 8:bmjgh-2023-011879. [PMID: 37277195 DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2023-011879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2023] [Accepted: 03/18/2023] [Indexed: 06/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a sense of vulnerability and urgency that led to concerted actions by governments, funders, regulators and industry to overcome traditional challenges for the development of vaccine candidates and to reach authorisation. Unprecedented financial investments, massive demand, accelerated clinical development and regulatory reviews were among the key factors that contributed to accelerating the development and approval of COVID-19 vaccines. The rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines benefited of previous scientific innovations such as mRNA and recombinant vectors and proteins. This has created a new era of vaccinology, with powerful platform technologies and a new model for vaccine development. These lessons learnt highlight the need of strong leadership, to bring together governments, global health organisations, manufacturers, scientists, private sector, civil society and philanthropy, to generate innovative, fair and equitable access mechanisms to COVID-19 vaccines for populations worldwide and to build a more efficient and effective vaccine ecosystem to prepare for other pandemics that may emerge. With a longer-term view, new vaccines must be developed with incentives to build expertise for manufacturing that can be leveraged for low/middle-income countries and other markets to ensure equity in innovation, access and delivery. The creation of vaccine manufacturing hubs with appropriate and sustained training, in particular in Africa, is certainly the way of the future to a new public health era to safeguard the health and economic security of the continent and guarantee vaccine security and access, with however the need for such capacity to be sustained in the interpandemic period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Louis Excler
- Director General's Office, International Vaccine Institute, Seoul, Korea (the Republic of)
| | - Melanie Saville
- Vaccine Development, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, London, UK
| | - Lois Privor-Dumm
- International Vaccine Access Center, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Sarah Gilbert
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
| | - Peter J Hotez
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Didi Thompson
- World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar
| | - Salim Abdool-Karim
- Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Jerome H Kim
- Director General's Office, International Vaccine Institute, Seoul, Korea (the Republic of)
- Department of Life Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (the Republic of)
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25
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Hotez PJ, Gilbert S, Saville M, Privor-Dumm L, Abdool-Karim S, Thompson D, Excler JL, Kim JH. COVID-19 vaccines and the pandemic: lessons learnt for other neglected diseases and future threats. BMJ Glob Health 2023; 8:bmjgh-2023-011883. [PMID: 37277196 DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2023-011883] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2023] [Accepted: 03/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Through the experiences gained by accelerating new vaccines for both Ebola virus infection and COVID-19 in a public health emergency, vaccine development has benefited from a 'multiple shots on goal' approach to new vaccine targets. This approach embraces simultaneous development of candidates with differing technologies, including, when feasible, vesicular stomatitis virus or adenovirus vectors, messenger RNA (mRNA), whole inactivated virus, nanoparticle and recombinant protein technologies, which led to multiple effective COVID-19 vaccines. The challenge of COVID-19 vaccine inequity, as COVID-19 spread globally, created a situation where cutting-edge mRNA technologies were preferentially supplied by multinational pharmaceutical companies to high-income countries while low and middle-income countries (LMICs) were pushed to the back of the queue and relied more heavily on adenoviral vector, inactivated virus and recombinant protein vaccines. To prevent this from occurring in future pandemics, it is essential to expand the scale-up capacity for both traditional and new vaccine technologies at individual or simultaneous hubs in LMICs. In parallel, a process of tech transfer of new technologies to LMIC producers needs to be facilitated and funded, while building LMIC national regulatory capacity, with the aim of several reaching 'stringent regulator' status. Access to doses is an essential start but is not sufficient, as healthcare infrastructure for vaccination and combating dangerous antivaccine programmes both require support. Finally, there is urgency to establish an international framework through a United Nations Pandemic Treaty to promote, support and harmonise a more robust, coordinated and effective global response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J Hotez
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Sarah Gilbert
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
| | | | - Lois Privor-Dumm
- International Vaccine Access Center, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Salim Abdool-Karim
- Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) and Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
| | | | | | - Jerome H Kim
- International Vaccine Institute, Seoul, South Korea
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26
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Pham KT, Hotez PJ, Hamilton KL. Reconstructive Surgery for the Neglected Tropical Diseases: Global Gaps and Future Directions. Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open 2023; 11:e4987. [PMID: 37207244 PMCID: PMC10191474 DOI: 10.1097/gox.0000000000004987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Several neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are highly disfiguring, particularly those in resource-poor countries that lack access to basic surgery. There has been a push to integrate surgery into treatment programs for NTDs. In this article, we provide an overview of the major disfiguring NTDs and discuss the processes and barriers that impede access to reconstructive surgical treatments or their integration into health systems. Methods A review of the literature was conducted using the online database PubMed, from 2008 to 2021 with the specific diseases listed as NTDs either on the World Health Organization or the PLoS Neglected Tropical Disease websites. Reference lists of identified articles and reviews were also searched, as were databases from the World Health Organization's Weekly Epidemiological Record. Result Success in the surgical treatment and postoperative care of disfiguring NTDs would benefit from standardization and harmonization of surgical approaches and procedures. In some settings, reconstructive surgery should be used cautiously, emphasizing appropriate use of antibiotics, partnerships with global and local surgical teams, and local capacity building. Preventative hygiene approaches remain paramount in resource-poor areas. Conclusions Surgery is a promising treatment for NTDs that result in disfigurement and disability. The expansion of local capacity building, with medical trips and surgical training of local health workers, together with the development of universal surgical protocols remain essential cornerstones for NTD reconstructive surgery. Antibiotics and drug management should comprise key first steps before turning to surgery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kala T. Pham
- From the Departments of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, Tex
- Houston Premedical Academy, University of Houston and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tex
| | - Peter J. Hotez
- Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tex
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27
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Hotez PJ. Response to Letter From Dr. Thorakkal Shamim. Rambam Maimonides Med J 2023; 14:RMMJ.10500. [PMID: 37116061 PMCID: PMC10147397 DOI: 10.5041/rmmj.10500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/30/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Peter J Hotez
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- James A. Baker III Institute of Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA
- Hagler Institute of Advanced Study and Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
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28
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Cable J, Graham BS, Koup RA, Seder RA, Karikó K, Pardi N, Barouch DH, Sharma B, Rauch S, Nachbagauer R, Forsell MNE, Schotsaert M, Ellebedy AH, Loré K, Irvine DJ, Pilkington E, Tahtinen S, Thompson EA, Feraoun Y, King NP, Saunders K, Alter G, Moin SM, Sliepen K, Hedestam GBK, Wardemann H, Pulendran B, Doria-Rose NA, He WT, Juno JA, Ataca S, Wheatley AK, McLellan JS, Walker LM, Lederhofer J, Lindesmith LC, Wille H, Hotez PJ, Bekker LG. Progress in vaccine development for infectious diseases-a Keystone Symposia report. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2023. [PMID: 37020354 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.14975] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/07/2023]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us many things, among the most important of which is that vaccines are one of the cornerstones of public health that help make modern longevity possible. While several different vaccines have been successful at stemming the morbidity and mortality associated with various infectious diseases, many pathogens/diseases remain recalcitrant to the development of effective vaccination. Recent advances in vaccine technology, immunology, structural biology, and other fields may yet yield insight that will address these diseases; they may also help improve societies' preparedness for future pandemics. On June 1-4, 2022, experts in vaccinology from academia, industry, and government convened for the Keystone symposium "Progress in Vaccine Development for Infectious Diseases" to discuss state-of-the-art technologies, recent advancements in understanding vaccine-mediated immunity, and new aspects of antigen design to aid vaccine effectiveness.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Richard A Koup
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Robert A Seder
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | | | - Norbert Pardi
- Department of Microbiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | | | | | | | - Raffael Nachbagauer
- Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
- Moderna, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | | | - Michael Schotsaert
- Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
- Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai New York, New York, New York, USA
| | - Ali H Ellebedy
- Department of Pathology and Immunology; Center for Vaccines and Immunity to Microbial Pathogens; and The Andrew M. and Jane M. Bursky Center for Human Immunology & Immunotherapy Programs, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Karin Loré
- Department of Medicine Solna, Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Darrell J Irvine
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research; Department of Biological Engineering; and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- Consortium for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development (CHAVD), Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA
- Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Emily Pilkington
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Department of Drug Delivery, Disposition and Dynamics, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | | | - Elizabeth A Thompson
- Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Yanis Feraoun
- Université Paris-Saclay, Inserm, CEA, Center for Immunology of Viral, Auto-Immune, Hematological and Bacterial Diseases (IMVA-HB/IDMIT), Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
| | - Neil P King
- Department of Biochemistry and Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Kevin Saunders
- Human Vaccine Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Galit Alter
- Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Syed M Moin
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Kwinten Sliepen
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | | | - Hedda Wardemann
- Division of B Cell Immunology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Bali Pulendran
- Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection; Department of Pathology; and Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Nicole A Doria-Rose
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Wan-Ting He
- Consortium for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development (CHAVD), Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology and IAVI Neutralizing Antibody Center, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Jennifer A Juno
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Sila Ataca
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Adam K Wheatley
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Jason S McLellan
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
| | - Laura M Walker
- Adimab, LLC, Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA
- New Hampshire and Adagio Therapeutics, Inc., Waltham, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Julia Lederhofer
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Lisa C Lindesmith
- Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Holger Wille
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases and Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Peter J Hotez
- Texas Children's Center for Vaccine Development, Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- James A Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, USA
- Hagler Institute for Advanced Study and Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs, Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - Linda-Gail Bekker
- Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
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Diemert DJ, Correa-Oliveira R, Fraga CG, Talles F, Silva MR, Patel SM, Galbiati S, Kennedy JK, Lundeen JS, Gazzinelli MF, Li G, Hoeweler L, Deye GA, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ, El Sahly HM, Keitel WA, Bethony J, Atmar RL. A randomized, controlled Phase 1b trial of the Sm-TSP-2 Vaccine for intestinal schistosomiasis in healthy Brazilian adults living in an endemic area. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2023; 17:e0011236. [PMID: 36996185 PMCID: PMC10089325 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0011236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2022] [Revised: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 03/12/2023] [Indexed: 04/01/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Recombinant Schistosoma mansoni Tetraspanin-2 formulated on Alhydrogel (Sm-TSP-2/Alhydrogel) is being developed to prevent intestinal and hepatic disease caused by S. mansoni. The tegumentary Sm-TSP-2 antigen was selected based on its unique recognition by cytophilic antibodies in putatively immune individuals living in areas of ongoing S. mansoni transmission in Brazil, and preclinical studies in which vaccination with Sm-TSP-2 protected mice following infection challenge. METHODS A randomized, observer-blind, controlled, Phase 1b clinical trial was conducted in 60 healthy adults living in a region of Brazil with ongoing S. mansoni transmission. In each cohort of 20 participants, 16 were randomized to receive one of two formulations of Sm-TSP-2 vaccine (adjuvanted with Alhydrogel only, or with Alhydrogel plus the Toll-like receptor-4 agonist, AP 10-701), and 4 to receive Euvax B hepatitis B vaccine. Successively higher doses of antigen (10 μg, 30 μg, and 100 μg) were administered in a dose-escalation fashion, with progression to the next dose cohort being dependent upon evaluation of 7-day safety data after all participants in the preceding cohort had received their first dose of vaccine. Each participant received 3 intramuscular injections of study product at intervals of 2 months and was followed for 12 months after the third vaccination. IgG and IgG subclass antibody responses to Sm-TSP-2 were measured by qualified indirect ELISAs at pre- and post-vaccination time points through the final study visit. RESULTS Sm-TSP-2/Alhydrogel administered with or without AP-10-701 was well-tolerated in this population. The most common solicited adverse events were mild injection site tenderness and pain, and mild headache. No vaccine-related serious adverse events or adverse events of special interest were observed. Groups administered Sm-TSP-2/Alhydrogel with AP 10-701 had higher post-vaccination levels of antigen-specific IgG antibody. A significant dose-response relationship was seen in those administered Sm-TSP-2/Alhydrogel with AP 10-701. Peak anti-Sm-TSP-2 IgG levels were observed approximately 2 weeks following the third dose, regardless of Sm-TSP-2 formulation. IgG levels fell to low levels by Day 478 in all groups except the 100 μg with AP 10-701 group, in which 50% of subjects (4 of 8) still had IgG levels that were ≥4-fold higher than baseline. IgG subclass levels mirrored those of total IgG, with IgG1 being the predominant subclass response. CONCLUSIONS Vaccination of adults with Sm-TSP-2/Alhydrogel in an area of ongoing S. mansoni transmission was safe, minimally reactogenic, and elicited significant IgG and IgG subclass responses against the vaccine antigen. These promising results have led to initiation of a Phase 2 clinical trial of this vaccine in an endemic region of Uganda. TRIAL REGISTRATION NCT03110757.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J Diemert
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington DC, United States of America
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington DC, United States of America
| | - Rodrigo Correa-Oliveira
- Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz em Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Carlo Geraldo Fraga
- Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz em Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Frederico Talles
- Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz em Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Marcella Rezende Silva
- Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz em Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Shital M Patel
- Departments of Molecular Virology & Microbiology and Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Shirley Galbiati
- The Emmes Company, LLC, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Jessie K Kennedy
- The Emmes Company, LLC, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Jordan S Lundeen
- The Emmes Company, LLC, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Maria Flavia Gazzinelli
- Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz em Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Guangzhao Li
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington DC, United States of America
| | - Lara Hoeweler
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington DC, United States of America
| | - Gregory A Deye
- Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID), National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious, Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), United States of America
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Peter J Hotez
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Hana M El Sahly
- Departments of Molecular Virology & Microbiology and Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Wendy A Keitel
- Departments of Molecular Virology & Microbiology and Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Jeffrey Bethony
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington DC, United States of America
| | - Robert L Atmar
- Departments of Molecular Virology & Microbiology and Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
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Carpiano RM, Callaghan T, DiResta R, Brewer NT, Clinton C, Galvani AP, Lakshmanan R, Parmet WE, Omer SB, Buttenheim AM, Benjamin RM, Caplan A, Elharake JA, Flowers LC, Maldonado YA, Mello MM, Opel DJ, Salmon DA, Schwartz JL, Sharfstein JM, Hotez PJ. Confronting the evolution and expansion of anti-vaccine activism in the USA in the COVID-19 era. Lancet 2023; 401:967-970. [PMID: 36871571 PMCID: PMC9981160 DOI: 10.1016/s0140-6736(23)00136-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2022] [Revised: 01/09/2023] [Accepted: 01/19/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Timothy Callaghan
- Department of Health Law, Policy & Management, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Renee DiResta
- Stanford Internet Observatory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Noel T Brewer
- Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Chelsea Clinton
- Clinton Foundation, New York, NY, USA; Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Alison P Galvani
- Center for Infectious Disease Modeling and Analysis, Yale School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | | | - Wendy E Parmet
- Center for Health Policy & Law, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Saad B Omer
- Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Yale School of Nursing, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Yale Institute of Global Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Internal Medicine (Infectious Diseases), Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Alison M Buttenheim
- Department of Family and Community Health, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, and Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | - Arthur Caplan
- New York University Langone School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jad A Elharake
- Yale Institute of Global Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Lisa C Flowers
- Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | | | - Michelle M Mello
- Department of Health Policy, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Stanford Law School, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Douglas J Opel
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA; Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Daniel A Salmon
- Institute for Vaccine Safety, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Jason L Schwartz
- Department of Health Policy and Management, Yale School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Joshua M Sharfstein
- Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Peter J Hotez
- Texas Children's Center for Vaccine Development, Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA; Hagler Institute for Advanced Study, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA; Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs, Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA; James A Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
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31
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J Hotez
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
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32
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Jones KM, Mangin EN, Reynolds CL, Villanueva LE, Cruz JV, Versteeg L, Keegan B, Kendricks A, Pollet J, Gusovsky F, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ. Vaccine-linked chemotherapy improves cardiac structure and function in a mouse model of chronic Chagas disease. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2023; 13:1106315. [PMID: 36844399 PMCID: PMC9947347 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1106315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2022] [Accepted: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Chagas disease, caused by chronic infection with the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, affects 6-7 million people worldwide. The major clinical manifestation of Chagas disease is chronic Chagasic cardiomyopathy (CCC), which encompasses a spectrum of symptoms including arrhythmias, hypertrophy, dilated cardiomyopathy, heart failure, and sudden death. Current treatment is limited to two antiparasitic drugs, benznidazole (BNZ) and nifurtimox, but both have limited efficacy to halt the progression of CCC. We developed a vaccine-linked chemotherapy strategy using our vaccine consisting of recombinant Tc24-C4 protein and a TLR-4 agonist adjuvant in a stable squalene emulsion, in combination with low dose benznidazole treatment. We previously demonstrated in acute infection models that this strategy parasite specific immune responses, and reduced parasite burdens and cardiac pathology. Here, we tested our vaccine-linked chemotherapy strategy in a mouse model of chronic T. cruzi infection to evaluate the effect on cardiac function. Methods Female BALB/c mice infected with 500 blood form T. cruzi H1 strain trypomastigotes were treated beginning 70 days after infection with a low dose of BNZ and either low or high dose of vaccine, in both sequential and concurrent treatments streams. Control mice were untreated, or administered only one treatment. Cardiac health was monitored throughout the course of treatment by echocardiography and electrocardiograms. Approximately 8 months after infection, endpoint histopathology was performed to measure cardiac fibrosis and cellular infiltration. Results Vaccine-linked chemotherapy improved cardiac function as evidenced by amelioration of altered left ventricular wall thickness, left ventricular diameter, as well as ejection fraction and fractional shortening by approximately 4 months of infection, corresponding to two months after treatment was initiated. At study endpoint, vaccine-linked chemotherapy reduced cardiac cellular infiltration, and induced significantly increased antigen specific IFN-γ and IL-10 release from splenocytes, as well as a trend toward increased IL-17A. Discussion These data suggest that vaccine-linked chemotherapy ameliorates changes in cardiac structure and function induced by infection with T. cruzi. Importantly, similar to our acute model, the vaccine-linked chemotherapy strategy induced durable antigen specific immune responses, suggesting the potential for a long lasting protective effect. Future studies will evaluate additional treatments that can further improve cardiac function during chronic infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn M. Jones
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States,Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States,*Correspondence: Kathryn M. Jones,
| | - Elise N. Mangin
- Department of Molecular Physiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Corey L. Reynolds
- Department of Molecular Physiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Liliana E. Villanueva
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States,Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico
| | - Julio Vladimir Cruz
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States,Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico
| | - Leroy Versteeg
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States,Cell Biology and Immunology Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Brian Keegan
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - April Kendricks
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Jeroen Pollet
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Fabian Gusovsky
- Global Health Research, Eisai, Inc., Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States,Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States,Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX, United States
| | - Peter J. Hotez
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States,Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States,Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX, United States,James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, TX, United States,Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
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Naeimi R, Sepidarkish M, Mollalo A, Parsa H, Mahjour S, Safarpour F, Almukhtar M, Mechaal A, Chemaitelly H, Sartip B, Marhoommirzabak E, Ardekani A, Hotez PJ, Gasser RB, Rostami A. SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in children worldwide: A systematic review and meta-analysis. EClinicalMedicine 2023; 56:101786. [PMID: 36590788 PMCID: PMC9795163 DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2022.101786] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Revised: 11/28/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The higher hospitalisation rates of those aged 0-19 years (referred to herein as 'children') observed since the emergence of the immune-evasive SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant and subvariants, along with the persisting vaccination disparities highlighted a need for in-depth knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 sero-epidemiology in children. Here, we conducted this systematic review to assess SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and determinants in children worldwide. METHODS In this systematic review and meta-analysis study, we searched international and preprinted scientific databases from December 1, 2019 to July 10, 2022. Pooled seroprevalences were estimated according to World Health Organization (WHO) regions (at 95% confidence intervals, CIs) using random-effects meta-analyses. Associations with SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and sources of heterogeneity were investigated using sub-group and meta-regression analyses. The protocol used in this study has been registered in PROSPERO (CRD42022350833). FINDINGS We included 247 studies involving 757,075 children from 70 countries. Seroprevalence estimates varied from 7.3% (5.8-9.1%) in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic to 37.6% (18.1-59.4%) in the fifth wave and 56.6% (52.8-60.5%) in the sixth wave. The highest seroprevalences in different pandemic waves were estimated for South-East Asia (17.9-81.8%) and African (17.2-66.1%) regions; while the lowest seroprevalence was estimated for the Western Pacific region (0.01-1.01%). Seroprevalence estimates were higher in children at older ages, in those living in underprivileged countries or regions, and in those of minority ethnic backgrounds. INTERPRETATION Our findings indicate that, by the end of 2021 and before the Omicron wave, around 50-70% of children globally were still susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, clearly emphasising the need for more effective vaccines and better vaccination coverage among children and adolescents, particularly in developing countries and minority ethnic groups. FUNDING None.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reza Naeimi
- Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran
| | - Mahdi Sepidarkish
- Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran
| | - Abolfazl Mollalo
- Department of Public Health and Prevention Science, School of Health Sciences, Baldwin Wallace University, Berea, OH, USA
| | - Hamid Parsa
- Department of Neurology, University of Visayas, Gullas College of Medicine, Cebu City, 600 Cebu, Philippines
| | - Sanaz Mahjour
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA
| | - Fatemeh Safarpour
- Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran
| | | | - Amal Mechaal
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, USA
| | - Hiam Chemaitelly
- Infectious Disease Epidemiology Group, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Cornell University, Doha, Qatar
- World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Disease Epidemiology Analytics on HIV/AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Infections and Viral Hepatitis, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Qatar-Foundation-Education City, Cornell University, Doha, Qatar
- Department of Population Health Sciences, Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University, New York, USA
| | - Behnam Sartip
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA
| | - Elika Marhoommirzabak
- Department of Neurology, University of Visayas, Gullas College of Medicine, Cebu City, 600 Cebu, Philippines
| | - Ali Ardekani
- Health Policy Research Center, Institute of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
| | - Peter J. Hotez
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Robin B. Gasser
- Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Melbourne Veterinary School, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
- Corresponding author.
| | - Ali Rostami
- Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran
- Corresponding author.
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34
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Hotez PJ. Global Vaccinations: New Urgency to Surmount a Triple Threat of Illness, Antiscience, and Anti-Semitism. Rambam Maimonides Med J 2023; 14:RMMJ.10491. [PMID: 36719666 PMCID: PMC9888484 DOI: 10.5041/rmmj.10491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Because of rising antivaccine activism and some key global policy missteps, we risk eroding more than 70 years of global health gains. This is occurring through an enabled and empowered antiscience ecosystem, with anti-Semitism and the targeting of Jewish biomedical scientists at its core.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J. Hotez
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- James A. Baker III Institute of Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA
- Hagler Institute of Advanced Study and Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
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35
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Nath SK, Pankajakshan P, Sharma T, Kumari P, Shinde S, Garg N, Mathur K, Arambam N, Harjani D, Raj M, Kwatra G, Venkatesh S, Choudhoury A, Bano S, Tayal P, Sharan M, Arora R, Strych U, Hotez PJ, Bottazzi ME, Rawal K. A Data-Driven Approach to Construct a Molecular Map of Trypanosoma cruzi to Identify Drugs and Vaccine Targets. Vaccines (Basel) 2023; 11:vaccines11020267. [PMID: 36851145 PMCID: PMC9963959 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11020267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2022] [Revised: 01/10/2023] [Accepted: 01/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Chagas disease (CD) is endemic in large parts of Central and South America, as well as in Texas and the southern regions of the United States. Successful parasites, such as the causative agent of CD, Trypanosoma cruzi have adapted to specific hosts during their phylogenesis. In this work, we have assembled an interactive network of the complex relations that occur between molecules within T. cruzi. An expert curation strategy was combined with a text-mining approach to screen 10,234 full-length research articles and over 200,000 abstracts relevant to T. cruzi. We obtained a scale-free network consisting of 1055 nodes and 874 edges, and composed of 838 proteins, 43 genes, 20 complexes, 9 RNAs, 36 simple molecules, 81 phenotypes, and 37 known pharmaceuticals. Further, we deployed an automated docking pipeline to conduct large-scale docking studies involving several thousand drugs and potential targets to identify network-based binding propensities. These experiments have revealed that the existing FDA-approved drugs benznidazole (Bz) and nifurtimox (Nf) show comparatively high binding energies to the T. cruzi network proteins (e.g., PIF1 helicase-like protein, trans-sialidase), when compared with control datasets consisting of proteins from other pathogens. We envisage this work to be of value to those interested in finding new vaccines for CD, as well as drugs against the T. cruzi parasite.
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Affiliation(s)
- Swarsat Kaushik Nath
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida 201303, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Preeti Pankajakshan
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida 201303, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Trapti Sharma
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida 201303, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Priya Kumari
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida 201303, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Sweety Shinde
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida 201303, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Nikita Garg
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida 201303, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Kartavya Mathur
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida 201303, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Nevidita Arambam
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida 201303, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Divyank Harjani
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida 201303, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Manpriya Raj
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida 201303, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Garwit Kwatra
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida 201303, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Sayantan Venkatesh
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida 201303, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Alakto Choudhoury
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida 201303, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Saima Bano
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida 201303, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Prashansa Tayal
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida 201303, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Mahek Sharan
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida 201303, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Ruchika Arora
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida 201303, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Ulrich Strych
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Peter J. Hotez
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, USA
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, USA
| | - Kamal Rawal
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida 201303, Uttar Pradesh, India
- Correspondence:
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Opel DJ, Brewer NT, Buttenheim AM, Callaghan T, Carpiano RM, Clinton C, Elharake JA, Flowers LC, Galvani AP, Hotez PJ, Schwartz JL, Benjamin RM, Caplan A, DiResta R, Lakshmanan R, Maldonado YA, Mello MM, Parmet WE, Salmon DA, Sharfstein JM, Omer SB. The legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic for childhood vaccination in the USA. Lancet 2023; 401:75-78. [PMID: 36309017 PMCID: PMC9605265 DOI: 10.1016/s0140-6736(22)01693-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2022] [Revised: 08/12/2022] [Accepted: 08/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Douglas J Opel
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA; Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA.
| | - Noel T Brewer
- Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Alison M Buttenheim
- Department of Family and Community Health, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and Center for Health Incentives, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Behavioral Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Timothy Callaghan
- Department of Health Law, Policy, and Management, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Chelsea Clinton
- Clinton Foundation, New York, NY, USA; Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jad A Elharake
- Yale Institute for Global Health, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Internal Medicine (Infectious Diseases), Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Lisa C Flowers
- Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Alison P Galvani
- Center for Infectious Disease Modeling and Analysis, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Peter J Hotez
- Texas Children's Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Molecular Virology & Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA; Hagler Institute for Advanced Study, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA; Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs, Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA; James A Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Jason L Schwartz
- Department of Health Policy and Management, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
| | | | - Arthur Caplan
- New York University Langone School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Renee DiResta
- Stanford Internet Observatory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | | | | | - Michelle M Mello
- Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Stanford Law School, Stanford, CA, USA; Department of Health Policy, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Wendy E Parmet
- Center for Health Policy & Law, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Daniel A Salmon
- Institute for Vaccine Safety, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Joshua M Sharfstein
- Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Saad B Omer
- Yale Institute for Global Health, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Internal Medicine (Infectious Diseases), Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA; Yale School of Nursing, Orange, CT, USA
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Abraham RS, Afzali B, Águeda A, Akin C, Albanesi C, Antiochos B, Aranow C, Atkinson JP, Aune TM, Babu S, Balko J, Ballow M, Bean R, Belavgeni A, Berek C, Beukelman T, Beziat V, Bimler L, Andrew Bird J, Blutt SE, Boguniewicz M, Boisson B, Boisson-Dupuis S, Borzova E, Bottazzi M, Boyaka PN, Bridges J, Browne SK, Burks AW, Bustamante J, Casanova JL, Chan A, Chan ES, Chatham WW, Chinen J, Christopher-Stine L, Coates E, Cope AP, Corry DB, Cosme J, Cron RQ, Dalakas MC, Dann SM, Das S, Daughety MM, Diamond B, Dispenzieri A, Durham SR, Eagar TN, Al-Hosni M, Elitzur S, Elmets CA, Erkan D, Fleisher TA, Fonacier L, Fontenot AP, Fragoulis G, Francischetti IM, Freiwald T, Frew AJ, Fujihashi K, Gadina M, Gapin L, Gatt ME, Gershwin ME, Gillespie SL, Gordon LK, Goronzy JJ, Grattan CE, Greenspan NS, Gschwend A, Gustafson CE, Hackett TL, Hamilton RG, Happe M, Harrison LC, Helbling A, Heckmann E, Hogquist K, Hohl TM, Holland SM, Hotez PJ, Houser K, Huntingdon ND, Hwangpo T, Izraeli S, Jaffe ES, Jalkanen S, Java A, Johnson DB, Johnson T, Jordan MB, Joshi SR, Jouanguy E, Kaminski HJ, Kaufmann SH, Khan DA, Kheradmand F, Khokar DS, Khoury P, Klein BS, Klion AD, Kohn DB, Kono M, Korngold R, Koulouri V, Kuhns DB, Kulkarni HS, Kuo CY, Kusner LL, Lahouti A, Lane LC, Laurence A, Lee JS, Lee ST, Leung DY, Levy O, Lewis DE, Li E, Libby P, Lichtman AH, Linkermann A, Lionakis MS, Liszewski MK, Lockshin MD, Priel DL, Lorenz AZ, Ludwig RJ, Luong A, Luqmani RA, Mackay M, Mahr A, Malley T, Mannon EC, Mannon PJ, Mannon RB, Manns MP, Maresso A, Matson SM, Mavragani CP, Maynard CL, McDonald D, Meylan F, Miller SD, Mitchell AL, Monos DS, Mueller SN, Mulders-Manders CM, Munshi PN, Murphy PM, Noel P, Notarangelo LD, Nunes-Santos CJ, Nussbaum RL, Nutman TB, Nutt SL, O'Neill L, O'Shea JJ, Ortel TL, Pai SY, Paul ME, Pearce S, Peterson EJ, Pittaluga S, Polverino F, Puck JM, Puel A, Radbruch A, Rajalingam R, Reece ST, Reveille JD, Rich RR, Ridley LK, Romeo AR, Rooney CM, Rosen A, Rosenzweig S, Rouse BT, Rowley SD, Sahiner UM, Sakaguchi S, Salinas W, Salmi M, Satola S, Schechter M, Schmidt E, Schroeder HW, Schwartzberg PL, Sciumè G, Segal BM, Selmi C, Sharabi A, Shimano KA, Sikorski PM, Simon A, Smith GP, Song JY, Stephens DS, Stephens R, Sun MM, Beretta-Piccoli BT, Tonnus W, Torgerson TR, Torres RM, Treat JD, Tsokos GC, Uzel G, Uzonna JE, van der Hilst JC, van der Meer JW, Varga J, Waldman M, Weatherhead J, Weiser P, Weyand CM, Wigley FM, Wing JB, Wood KJ, Wilde S, Xu H, Yusuf N, Zerbe CS, Zhang Q, Ben-Yehuda D, Zhang SY, Zieske AW. List Of Contributors. Clin Immunol 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-7020-8165-1.00102-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/08/2023]
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Preeti P, Nath SK, Arambam N, Sharma T, Choudhury PR, Choudhury A, Khanna V, Strych U, Hotez PJ, Bottazzi ME, Rawal K. Vaxi-DL: An Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Platform for Vaccine Development. Methods Mol Biol 2023; 2673:305-316. [PMID: 37258923 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3239-0_21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Vaccine development is a complex and long process. It involves several steps, including computational studies, experimental analyses, animal model system studies, and clinical trials. This process can be accelerated by using in silico antigen screening to identify potential vaccine candidates. In this chapter, we describe a deep learning-based technique which utilizes 18 biological and 9154 physicochemical properties of proteins for finding potential vaccine candidates. Using this technique, a new web-based system, named Vaxi-DL, was developed which helped in finding new vaccine candidates from bacteria, protozoa, viruses, and fungi. Vaxi-DL is available at: https://vac.kamalrawal.in/vaxidl/ .
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Affiliation(s)
- P Preeti
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, AIB, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Swarsat Kaushik Nath
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, AIB, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Nevidita Arambam
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, AIB, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Trapti Sharma
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, AIB, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Priyanka Ray Choudhury
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, AIB, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Alakto Choudhury
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, AIB, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Vrinda Khanna
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, AIB, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Ulrich Strych
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Peter J Hotez
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA
| | - Kamal Rawal
- Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, AIB, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.
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Hotez PJ, Adhikari R, Chen WH, Chen YL, Gillespie P, Islam NY, Keegan B, Tyagi Kundu R, Lee J, Liu Z, Kimata JT, Oezguen N, Pollet J, Poveda C, Razavi K, Ronca SE, Strych U, Thimmiraju SR, Versteeg L, Villar-Mondragon MJ, Wei J, Zhan B, Bottazzi ME. From concept to delivery: a yeast-expressed recombinant protein-based COVID-19 vaccine technology suitable for global access. Expert Rev Vaccines 2023; 22:495-500. [PMID: 37252854 DOI: 10.1080/14760584.2023.2217917] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The development of a yeast-expressed recombinant protein-based vaccine technology co-developed with LMIC vaccine producers and suitable as a COVID-19 vaccine for global access is described. The proof-of-concept for developing a SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor-binding domain (RBD) antigen as a yeast-derived recombinant protein vaccine technology is described. AREAS COVERED Genetic Engineering: The strategy is presented for the design and genetic modification used during cloning and expression in the yeast system. Process and Assay Development: A summary is presented of how a scalable, reproducible, and robust production process for the recombinant protein COVID-19 vaccine antigen was developed. Formulation and Pre-clinical Strategy: We report on the pre-clinical and formulation strategy used for the proof-of-concept evaluation of the SARS-CoV-2 RBD vaccine antigen. Technology Transfer and Partnerships: The process used for the technology transfer and co-development with LMIC vaccine producers is described. Clinical Development and Delivery: The approach used by LMIC developers to establish the industrial process, clinical development, and deployment is described. EXPERT OPINION Highlighted is an alternative model for developing new vaccines for emerging infectious diseases of pandemic importance starting with an academic institution directly transferring their technology to LMIC vaccine producers without the involvement of multinational pharma companies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J Hotez
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Rakesh Adhikari
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Wen-Hsiang Chen
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Yi-Lin Chen
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Portia Gillespie
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Nelufa Y Islam
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Brian Keegan
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Rakhi Tyagi Kundu
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Jungsoon Lee
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Zhuyun Liu
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Jason T Kimata
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Numan Oezguen
- Department of Pathology & Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Pathology, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Jeroen Pollet
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Cristina Poveda
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Kay Razavi
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Shannon E Ronca
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Ulrich Strych
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Syamala R Thimmiraju
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Leroy Versteeg
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Maria Jose Villar-Mondragon
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Junfei Wei
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Bin Zhan
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
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Abstract
Although true vaccine diplomacy in the form of sharing vaccine development technologies and scientific cooperation with low- and middle-income countries has not been a dominant theme in the COVID-19 pandemic, this aspect is now taking off and generating some exciting new possibilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J Hotez
- Texas Children's Center for Vaccine Development, Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA.,Hagler Institute of Advanced Study and Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.,James A Baker III Institute of Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
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41
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Hotez PJ. Malnutrition vaccines for an imminent global food catastrophe. Trends Pharmacol Sci 2022; 43:994-997. [PMID: 36100482 PMCID: PMC9463047 DOI: 10.1016/j.tips.2022.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2022] [Revised: 08/15/2022] [Accepted: 08/17/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Together with climate change, both the geopolitical events in Ukraine and social disruptions in supply chains from the COVID-19 pandemic could produce global food shortages or even mass starvation events. Promising new interventions include vaccines to prevent infectious causes of malnutrition or infections disproportionately causing death among the malnourished.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J. Hotez
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA,Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA,James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA,Hagler Institute for Advanced Study, and the Scrowcroft Institute of International Affairs, at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA,Correspondence:
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González-López C, Chen WH, Alfaro-Chacón A, Villanueva-Lizama LE, Rosado-Vallado M, Ramirez-Sierra MJ, Teh-Poot CF, Pollet J, Asojo O, Jones KM, Hotez PJ, Elena Bottazzi M, Cruz-Chan JV. A novel multi-epitope recombinant protein elicits an antigen-specific CD8+ T cells response in Trypanosoma cruzi-infected mice. Vaccine 2022; 40:6445-6449. [PMID: 36184402 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.09.068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2022] [Revised: 09/05/2022] [Accepted: 09/22/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
About 6.5 million people worldwide are afflicted by Chagas disease, which is caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. The development of a therapeutic vaccine to prevent the progression of Chagasic cardiomyopathy has been proposed as an alternative for antiparasitic chemotherapy. Bioinformatics tools can predict MHC class I CD8 + epitopes for inclusion in a single recombinant protein with the goal to develop a multivalent vaccine. We expressed a novel recombinant protein Tc24-C4.10E harboring ten nonameric CD8 + epitopes and using Tc24-C4 protein as scaffold to evaluate the therapeutic effect in acute T. cruzi infection. T. cruzi-infected mice were immunized with Tc24-C4.10E or Tc24-C4 in a 50-day model of acute infection. Tc24-C4.10E-treated mice showed a decreased parasitemia compared to the Tc24-C4 (non-adjuvant) immunized mice or control group. Moreover, Tc24-C4.10E induced a higher stimulation index of CD8 + T cells producing IFNγ and IL-4 cytokines. These results suggest that the addition of the MHC Class I epitopes to Tc24-C4 can synergize the antigen-specific cellular immune responses, providing proof-of-concept that this approach could lead to the development of a promising vaccine candidate for Chagas disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina González-López
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales "Dr. Hideyo Noguchi", Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, México; Department of Viroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Wen-Hsiang Chen
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; Departments of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Andrea Alfaro-Chacón
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales "Dr. Hideyo Noguchi", Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, México
| | - Liliana E Villanueva-Lizama
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales "Dr. Hideyo Noguchi", Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, México; Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Miguel Rosado-Vallado
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales "Dr. Hideyo Noguchi", Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, México
| | - Maria Jesús Ramirez-Sierra
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales "Dr. Hideyo Noguchi", Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, México
| | - Christian F Teh-Poot
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales "Dr. Hideyo Noguchi", Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, México
| | - Jeroen Pollet
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; Departments of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Oluwatoyin Asojo
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Hampton University, VA, USA
| | - Kathryn M Jones
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; Departments of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Peter J Hotez
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; Departments of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; Departments of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Julio Vladimir Cruz-Chan
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales "Dr. Hideyo Noguchi", Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, México; Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
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43
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J Hotez
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Mogomotsi Matshaba
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX, USA
- Botswana-Baylor Children's Clinical Centre of Excellence, Gaborone, Botswana
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44
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Sachs JD, Karim SSA, Aknin L, Allen J, Brosbøl K, Colombo F, Barron GC, Espinosa MF, Gaspar V, Gaviria A, Haines A, Hotez PJ, Koundouri P, Bascuñán FL, Lee JK, Pate MA, Ramos G, Reddy KS, Serageldin I, Thwaites J, Vike-Freiberga V, Wang C, Were MK, Xue L, Bahadur C, Bottazzi ME, Bullen C, Laryea-Adjei G, Ben Amor Y, Karadag O, Lafortune G, Torres E, Barredo L, Bartels JGE, Joshi N, Hellard M, Huynh UK, Khandelwal S, Lazarus JV, Michie S. The Lancet Commission on lessons for the future from the COVID-19 pandemic. Lancet 2022; 400:1224-1280. [PMID: 36115368 PMCID: PMC9539542 DOI: 10.1016/s0140-6736(22)01585-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 202] [Impact Index Per Article: 101.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2022] [Revised: 07/01/2022] [Accepted: 08/11/2022] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey D Sachs
- Center for Sustainable Development, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States.
| | - Salim S Abdool Karim
- Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Lara Aknin
- Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - Joseph Allen
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | | | - Francesca Colombo
- Health Division, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris, France
| | | | | | - Vitor Gaspar
- Fiscal Affairs Department, International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC, United States
| | | | - Andy Haines
- Department of Public Health, Environments and Society, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK; Department of Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Peter J Hotez
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Phoebe Koundouri
- Department of International and European Economic Studies, Athens University of Economics and Business, Athens, Greece; Department of Technology, Management and Economics, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark; European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, Athens, Greece
| | - Felipe Larraín Bascuñán
- Department of Economics and Administration, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Jong-Koo Lee
- National Academy of Medicine of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Muhammad Ali Pate
- Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | | | | | | | - John Thwaites
- Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | | | - Chen Wang
- National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China; National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China
| | | | - Lan Xue
- Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Chandrika Bahadur
- The Lancet COVID-19 Commission Regional Task Force: India, New Delhi, India
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Chris Bullen
- National Institute for Health Innovation, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | | | - Yanis Ben Amor
- Center for Sustainable Development, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Ozge Karadag
- Center for Sustainable Development, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | | | - Emma Torres
- United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, New York, NY, United States
| | - Lauren Barredo
- United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, New York, NY, United States
| | - Juliana G E Bartels
- Center for Sustainable Development, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Neena Joshi
- United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, New York, NY, United States
| | | | | | | | - Jeffrey V Lazarus
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Hospital Clinic, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Susan Michie
- Centre for Behaviour Change, University College London, London, UK
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45
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Betouke Ongwe ME, Mouwenda YD, Stam KA, Kremsner PG, Lell B, Diemert D, Bethony J, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ, Leeuwen RV, Grobusch MP, Adegnika AA, Mayboroda OA, Yazdanbakhsh M. Investigation of urinary metabolomics in a phase I hookworm vaccine trial in Gabon. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0275013. [PMID: 36155987 PMCID: PMC9512193 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0275013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2021] [Accepted: 08/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Metabolomics provides a powerful tool to study physiological changes in response to various perturbations such as vaccination. We explored whether metabolomic changes could be seen after vaccination in a phase I trial where Gabonese adults living either in rural or semi-urban areas received the subunit hookworm vaccine candidates (Na-GST-1 and Na-APR-1 (M74) adjuvanted with Alhydrogel plus GLA-AF (n = 24) or the hepatitis B vaccine (n = 8) as control. Urine samples were collected and assayed using targeted 1H NMR spectroscopy. At baseline, a set of metabolites significantly distinguished rural from semi-urban individuals. The pre- and post-vaccination comparisons indicated significant changes in few metabolites but only one day after the first vaccination. There was no relationship with immunogenicity. In conclusion, in a small phase 1 trial, urinary metabolomics could distinguish volunteers with different environmental exposures and reflected the safety of the vaccines but did not show a relationship to immunogenicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeleine Eunice Betouke Ongwe
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné, Lambaréné, Gabon
- Institut de Recherches en Écologie Tropicale, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique (CENAREST), Lambaréné, Gabon
- * E-mail:
| | - Yoanne D. Mouwenda
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné, Lambaréné, Gabon
| | - Koen A. Stam
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Peter G. Kremsner
- Institut für Tropenmedizin, Eberhad Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Bertrand Lell
- Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné, Lambaréné, Gabon
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Department of Medicine I, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - David Diemert
- George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States of America
| | - Jeff Bethony
- George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States of America
| | - Maria E. Bottazzi
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States of America
| | - Peter J. Hotez
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States of America
| | - Remko V. Leeuwen
- Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Martin P. Grobusch
- Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné, Lambaréné, Gabon
- Institut für Tropenmedizin, Eberhad Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Center of Tropical Medicine and Travel Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam Public Health; Amsterdam Infection & Immunity, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Ayola A. Adegnika
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné, Lambaréné, Gabon
- Institut für Tropenmedizin, Eberhad Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Tübingen, Germany
| | - Oleg A. Mayboroda
- Center for Proteomics and Metabolomics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Maria Yazdanbakhsh
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
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46
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Mello MM, Opel DJ, Benjamin RM, Callaghan T, DiResta R, Elharake JA, Flowers LC, Galvani AP, Salmon DA, Schwartz JL, Brewer NT, Buttenheim AM, Carpiano RM, Clinton C, Hotez PJ, Lakshmanan R, Maldonado YA, Omer SB, Sharfstein JM, Caplan A. Effectiveness of vaccination mandates in improving uptake of COVID-19 vaccines in the USA. Lancet 2022; 400:535-538. [PMID: 35817078 PMCID: PMC9270060 DOI: 10.1016/s0140-6736(22)00875-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2021] [Revised: 04/26/2022] [Accepted: 05/05/2022] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Michelle M Mello
- Stanford Law School, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Department of Health Policy, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; School of Medicine, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
| | - Douglas J Opel
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA; Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | - Timothy Callaghan
- Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Renee DiResta
- Stanford Internet Observatory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Jad A Elharake
- Yale Institute for Global Health and Department of Internal Medicine (Infectious Diseases), Yale School of Medicine, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Lisa C Flowers
- Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Alison P Galvani
- Center for Infectious Disease Modeling and Analysis, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Daniel A Salmon
- Institute for Vaccine Safety, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Jason L Schwartz
- Department of Health Policy and Management, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Noel T Brewer
- Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health and Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Alison M Buttenheim
- Department of Family and Community Health, School of Nursing, and Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | - Chelsea Clinton
- Clinton Foundation, New York, NY, USA; Clinton Health Access Initiative, Boston, MA, USA; Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Peter J Hotez
- Texas Children's Center for Vaccine Development, Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; James A Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA; Hagler Institute for Advanced Study and Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs, Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Rekha Lakshmanan
- James A Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA; The Immunization Partnership, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Yvonne A Maldonado
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Saad B Omer
- Yale Institute for Global Health and Department of Internal Medicine (Infectious Diseases), Yale School of Medicine, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA; Yale School of Nursing, Orange, CT, USA
| | - Joshua M Sharfstein
- Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Arthur Caplan
- Langone School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, USA
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47
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Jones KM, Poveda C, Versteeg L, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ. Preclinical advances and the immunophysiology of a new therapeutic chagas disease vaccine. Expert Rev Vaccines 2022; 21:1185-1203. [PMID: 35735065 DOI: 10.1080/14760584.2022.2093721] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Chronic infection with the protozoal parasite Trypanosoma cruzi leads to a progressive cardiac disease, known as chronic Chagasic cardiomyopathy (CCC). A new therapeutic Chagas disease vaccine is in development to augment existing antiparasitic chemotherapy drugs. AREAS COVERED We report on our current understanding of the underlying immunologic and physiologic mechanisms that lead to CCC, including parasite immune escape mechanisms that allow persistence and the subsequent inflammatory and fibrotic processes that lead to clinical disease. We report on vaccine design and the observed immunotherapeutic effects including induction of a balanced TH1/TH2/TH17 immune response that leads to reduced parasite burdens and tissue pathology. Further, we report vaccine-linked chemotherapy, a dose sparing strategy to further reduce parasite burdens and tissue pathology. EXPERT OPINION Our vaccine-linked chemotherapeutic approach is a multimodal treatment strategy, addressing both the parasite persistence and the underlying deleterious host inflammatory and fibrotic responses that lead to cardiac dysfunction. In targeting treatment towards patients with chronic indeterminate or early determinate Chagas disease, this vaccine-linked chemotherapeutic approach will be highly economical and will reduce the global disease burden and deaths due to CCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn M Jones
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.,Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Cristina Poveda
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.,Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Leroy Versteeg
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.,Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.,Cell Biology and Immunology Group, Wageningen University & Research, De Elst 1, 6708 WD Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.,Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.,Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America
| | - Peter J Hotez
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.,Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.,Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America.,James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, Texas, United States of America.,Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, United States of America
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48
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Kaplan J, Centeno FH, Hayon J, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ, Weatherhead JE, Clark E, Woc-Colburn L. Reviewing a Decade of Outpatient Tropical Medicine in Houston, Texas. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2022; 106:1049-1056. [PMID: 35226869 PMCID: PMC8991353 DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.21-1059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2021] [Accepted: 12/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Tropical diseases cause significant morbidity among the world's poorest populations. Although more common in low- and middle-income countries, tropical diseases are also found among underserved populations living in high-income countries such as the United States. The National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and the Harris Health System founded a tropical medicine clinic-the Harris Health Tropical Medicine Clinic (HHTMC)-in Houston in 2011 in response to tropical disease-related morbidity in Texas. We conducted a retrospective chart review of a sample of patients older than 18 years of age who were referred to the HHTMC between October 2011 and January 2020. Of the 523 patients reviewed, 185 (35.4%) had mycobacterial infections, 184 (35.2%) had parasitic infections, 38 (7.3%) had fungal infections, 16 (3.1%) had eosinophilia without a confirmed clinical diagnosis, 28 (5.4%) had bacterial infections, and 13 (2.5%) had viral infections. The most common infections overall were extrapulmonary and latent tuberculosis (n = 169), neurocysticercosis (n = 78), strongyloidiasis (n = 28), Chagas disease (n = 25), and schistosomiasis (n = 12). The epidemiology of tropical diseases in the United States is understudied at national and regional levels. This 10-year retrospective study contributes to bridging this knowledge gap by detailing the frequencies of tropical disease diagnoses made at the HHTMC in Houston, TX. These data highlight areas for advancement in the field of tropical medicine within the United States, such as improving front-line health-care provider education; establishing tropical medicine clinics in areas of high prevalence such as the Gulf Coast, Appalachia, and urban areas; and developing comprehensive, systematic national tropical disease screening programs and patient registries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julika Kaplan
- Department of Internal Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | | | - Jesica Hayon
- Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Peter J. Hotez
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Jill E. Weatherhead
- Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Eva Clark
- Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
- Health Services Research, Michael E. DeBakey VA Health Services Research Center of Innovations, Houston, Texas
| | - Laila Woc-Colburn
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
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49
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Zhan B, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ, Lustigman S. Advancing a Human Onchocerciasis Vaccine From Antigen Discovery to Efficacy Studies Against Natural Infection of Cattle With Onchocerca ochengi. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022; 12:869039. [PMID: 35444961 PMCID: PMC9015098 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.869039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2022] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Human onchocerciasis is a devastating neglected tropical disease caused by infection of the filarial nematode Onchocerca volvulus. The infection can cause irreversible visual impairment or blindness and stigmatizing dermatitis. More than 32 million people were estimated to be infected with O. volvulus in Africa, and 385,000 suffered from blindness. Even though the implementation of mass drug administration (MDA) with ivermectin has reduced the global prevalence of onchocerciasis, O. volvulus infection remains challenging to control because MDA with ivermectin cannot be implemented in endemic areas co-endemic with loiasis due to the risk of severe adverse events. There is also emerging drug resistance to ivermectin that further complicates the elimination of onchocerciasis. Thus, the development of a vaccine that would induce protective immunity and reduce infection burden is essential. Efforts to develop prophylactic and/or therapeutic vaccines for onchocerciasis have been explored since the late 1980s by many researchers and entities, and here we summarize the recent advances made in the development of vaccines against the infection of O. volvulus and onchocerciasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bin Zhan
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
- *Correspondence: Bin Zhan,
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Peter J. Hotez
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Sara Lustigman
- Laboratory of Molecular Parasitology, Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute, New York Blood Center, New York, NY, United States
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50
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Wei J, Hegde VL, Yanamandra AV, O'Hara MP, Keegan B, Jones KM, Strych U, Bottazzi ME, Zhan B, Sastry KJ, Hotez PJ. Mucosal Vaccination With Recombinant Tm-WAP49 Protein Induces Protective Humoral and Cellular Immunity Against Experimental Trichuriasis in AKR Mice. Front Immunol 2022; 13:800295. [PMID: 35197976 PMCID: PMC8859434 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.800295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2021] [Accepted: 01/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Trichuriasis is one of the most common neglected tropical diseases of the world's poorest people. A recombinant vaccine composed of Tm-WAP49, an immunodominant antigen secreted by adult Trichuris stichocytes into the mucosa of the cecum to which the parasite attaches, is under development. The prototype is being evaluated in a mouse model of Trichuris muris infection, with the ultimate goal of producing a mucosal vaccine through intranasal delivery. Intranasal immunization of mice with Tm-WAP49 formulated with the adjuvant OCH, a truncated analog of alpha-GalCer with adjuvanticity to stimulate natural killer T cells (NKT) and mucosal immunity, induced significantly high levels of IgG and its subclasses (IgG1 and IgG2a) in immunized mice. This also resulted in a significant reduction of worm burden after challenge with T. muris-infective eggs. The addition of QS-21 adjuvant to this vaccine formulation further reduced worm counts. The improved protection from the dual-adjuvanted vaccine correlated with higher serum antibody responses (IgG, IgG1, IgG2a, IgA) as well as with the induction of antigen-specific IgA in the nasal mucosa. It was also associated with the robust cellular responses including functional subsets of CD4 T cells producing IL-4, and cytotoxic CD8 T cells expressing granzyme B. The worm reduction achieved by mucosal immunization was higher than that induced by subcutaneous immunization. Intranasal immunization also induced a significantly higher nasal mucosa-secreted antigen-specific IgA response, as well as higher functional cellular responses including CD4+IL4+ (Th1) and CD8+GnzB+ (Th2) T cells, and antigen-specific INFγ-producing T cells in both spleen and MLNs and antibody-producing B cells (CD19+B220+/B220+GL7+). Mucosal immunization further induced long-term T lymphocyte memory with increased central (CD62L+CD44+) and effector (CD62L-CD44+) memory subsets of both CD4 and CD8 T cells at 60 days after the last immunization. In summary, intranasal immunization with recombinant Tm-WAP49 protein induced strong protection versus murine trichuriasis. It represents a promising vaccination approach against intestinal nematodes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junfei Wei
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Venkatesh L Hegde
- Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Ananta V Yanamandra
- Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Madison P O'Hara
- Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States.,University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Brian Keegan
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Kathryn M Jones
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Ulrich Strych
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States.,Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX, United States
| | - Bin Zhan
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - K Jagannadha Sastry
- Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Peter J Hotez
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States.,Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX, United States
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