Rectal administration of a chlamydial subunit vaccine protects against genital infection and upper reproductive tract pathology in mice.

Autor: Roshan Pais, Yusuf Omosun, Qing He, Uriel Blas-Machado, Carolyn Black, Joseph U Igietseme, Kohtaro Fujihashi, Francis O Eko
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2017
Předmět:
Zdroj: PLoS ONE, Vol 12, Iss 6, p e0178537 (2017)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1932-6203
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0178537
Popis: In this study, we tested the hypothesis that rectal immunization with a VCG-based chlamydial vaccine would cross-protect mice against heterologous genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection and Chlamydia-induced upper genital tract pathologies in mice. Female mice were immunized with a C. trachomatis serovar D-derived subunit vaccine or control or live serovar D elementary bodies (EBs) and the antigen-specific mucosal and systemic immune responses were characterized. Vaccine efficacy was determined by evaluating the intensity and duration of genital chlamydial shedding following intravaginal challenge with live serovar E chlamydiae. Protection against upper genital tract pathology was determined by assessing infertility and tubal inflammation. Rectal immunization elicited high levels of chlamydial-specific IFN-gamma-producing CD4 T cells and humoral immune responses in mucosal and systemic tissues. The elicited immune effectors cross-reacted with the serovar E chlamydial antigen and reduced the length and intensity of genital chlamydial shedding. Furthermore, immunization with the VCG-vaccine but not the rVCG-gD2 control reduced the incidence of tubal inflammation and protected mice against Chlamydia-induced infertility. These results highlight the potential of rectal immunization as a viable mucosal route for inducing protective immunity in the female genital tract.
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