Abstract
Helminths contribute a larger global burden of disease than both malaria and tuberculosis. These eukaryotes have caused human infections since before our earliest recorded history (i.e.: earlier than 1200 B.C. for Schistosoma spp.). Despite the prevalence and importance of these infections, helminths are considered a neglected tropical disease for which there are no vaccines approved for human use. Similar to other parasites, helminths are complex organisms which employ a plethora of features such as: complex life cycles, chronic infections, and antigenic mimicry to name a few, making them difficult to target by conventional vaccine strategies. With novel vaccine strategies such as viral vectors and genetic elements, numerous constructs are being defined for a wide range of helminth parasites; however, it has yet to be discussed which of these approaches may be the most effective. With human trials being conducted, and a pipeline of potential anti-helminthic antigens, greater understanding of helminth vaccine-induced immunity is necessary for the development of potent vaccine platforms and their optimal design. This review outlines the conventional and the most promising approaches in clinical and preclinical helminth vaccinology.
Highlights
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) affect approximately one sixth of the world’s population [1]
In the case of RA vaccines, an importance has been placed on the expression of IFNg and Th1 immune responses [96,97,98,99], despite the protection delivered by Th2 responses for most helminths [65, 72, 83, 100]
This study demonstrated that when expressed in E. coli, Fh15 delivered higher protection from schistosomiasis than when expressed by baculovirus
Summary
Reviewed by: Gaurav Gupta, NIIT University, India Manuel Ritter, University Hospital Bonn, Germany Deborah Negrão-Correa, Federal University of Minas. Helminths contribute a larger global burden of disease than both malaria and tuberculosis. These eukaryotes have caused human infections since before our earliest recorded history (i.e.: earlier than 1200 B.C. for Schistosoma spp.). Despite the prevalence and importance of these infections, helminths are considered a neglected tropical disease for which there are no vaccines approved for human use. Helminths are complex organisms which employ a plethora of features such as: complex life cycles, chronic infections, and antigenic mimicry to name a few, making them difficult to target by conventional vaccine strategies. With novel vaccine strategies such as viral vectors and genetic elements, numerous constructs are being defined for a wide range of helminth parasites; it has yet to be discussed which of these approaches may be the most effective.
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