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Urban JF, Nielsen MK, Gazzola D, Xie Y, Beshah E, Hu Y, Li H, Rus F, Flanagan K, Draper A, Vakalapudi S, Li RW, Ostroff GR, Aroian RV. An inactivated bacterium (paraprobiotic) expressing Bacillus thuringiensis Cry5B as a therapeutic for Ascaris and Parascaris spp. infections in large animals. One Health 2021; 12:100241. [PMID: 33889707 PMCID: PMC8048022 DOI: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2021.100241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [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: 12/11/2020] [Revised: 03/22/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Ascaris and Parascaris are important parasites in the family Ascarididae, large, ubiquitous intestinal-dwelling nematodes infecting all classes of vertebrates. Parasitic nematode drug resistance in veterinary medicine and drug recalcitrance in human medicine are increasing worldwide, with few if any new therapeutic classes on the horizon. Some of these parasites are zoonotic, e.g., Ascaris is passed from humans to pigs and vice versa. The development of new therapies against this family of parasites would have major implications for both human and livestock health. Here we tested the therapeutic ability of a paraprobiotic or dead probiotic that expresses the Bacillus thuringiensis Cry5B protein with known anthelmintic properties, against zoonotic Ascaris suum and Parascaris spp. This paraprobiotic, known as IBaCC, intoxicated A. suum larvae in vitro and was highly effective in vivo against intestinal A. suum infections in a new mouse model for this parasite. Fermentation was scaled up to 350 l to treat pigs and horses. Single dose Cry5B IBaCC nearly completely cleared A. suum infections in pigs. Furthermore, single dose Cry5B IBaCC drove fecal egg counts in Parascaris-infected foals to zero, showing at least parity with, and potential superiority to, current efficacy of anthelmintics used against this parasite. Cry5B IBaCC therefore represents a new, paraprobiotic One Health approach towards targeting Ascarididae that is safe, effective, massively scalable, stable, and useful in human and veterinary medicine in both the developed and developing regions of the world. IBaCC is Bacillus thuringiensis Cry5B protein crystals trapped inside dead bacteria. IBaCC intoxicates Ascaris suum intestinal parasitic nematodes in vitro. IBaCC is highly effective against A. suum parasites in vivo in mice and pigs. IBaCC is highly effective against related Parascaris parasites in foals. IBaCC represents a new paradigm for treating ascarid parasites of humans and animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph F Urban
- U. S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal and Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD, United States of America.,U. S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Diet, Genomics and Immunology Laboratory, Beltsville, MD, United States of America
| | - Martin K Nielsen
- M.H. Gluck Equine Research Center, Department of Veterinary Science, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, United States of America
| | - David Gazzola
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States of America
| | - Yue Xie
- U. S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal and Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD, United States of America.,U. S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Diet, Genomics and Immunology Laboratory, Beltsville, MD, United States of America.,Department of Parasitology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Sichuan, China
| | - Ethiopia Beshah
- U. S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal and Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD, United States of America.,U. S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Diet, Genomics and Immunology Laboratory, Beltsville, MD, United States of America
| | - Yan Hu
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States of America
| | - Hanchen Li
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States of America
| | - Florentina Rus
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States of America
| | - Kelly Flanagan
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States of America
| | - Austin Draper
- Synthetic Biomanufacturing Facility, Utah State University, Logan, UT, United States of America
| | - Sridhar Vakalapudi
- Synthetic Biomanufacturing Facility, Utah State University, Logan, UT, United States of America
| | - Robert W Li
- U. S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal and Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD, United States of America
| | - Gary R Ostroff
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States of America
| | - Raffi V Aroian
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States of America
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Sanders J, Xie Y, Gazzola D, Li H, Abraham A, Flanagan K, Rus F, Miller M, Hu Y, Guynn S, Draper A, Vakalapudi S, Petersson KH, Zarlenga D, Li RW, Urban JF, Ostroff GR, Zajac A, Aroian RV. A new paraprobiotic-based treatment for control of Haemonchus contortus in sheep. Int J Parasitol Drugs Drug Resist 2020; 14:230-236. [PMID: 33242790 PMCID: PMC7695930 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpddr.2020.11.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2020] [Revised: 11/16/2020] [Accepted: 11/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Haemonchus contortus is a critical parasite of goats and sheep. Infection by this blood-feeding gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) parasite has significant health consequences, especially in lambs and kids. The parasite has developed resistance to virtually all known classes of small molecule anthelmintics used to treat it, giving rise in some areas to multidrug resistant parasites that are very difficult to control. Thus, new anthelmintics are urgently needed. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crystal protein 5B (Cry5B), a naturally occurring protein made by a bacterium widely and safely used around the world as a bioinsecticide, represents a new non-small molecule modality for treating GINs. Cry5B has demonstrated anthelmintic activities against parasites of monogastric animals, including some related to those that infect humans, but has not yet been studied in a ruminant. Here we show that H. contortus adults are susceptible to Cry5B protein in vitro. Cry5B produced in its natural form as a spore-crystal lysate against H. contortus infections in goats had no significant efficacy. However, a new Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) paraprobiotic form of Cry5B called IBaCC (Inactivated Bacterium with Cytosolic Crystals), in which Cry5B crystals are encapsulated in dead Bt cell wall ghosts, showed excellent efficacy in vitro against larval stages of H. contortus and relative protein stability in bovine rumen fluid. When given to sheep experimentally infected with H. contortus as three 60 mg/kg doses, Cry5B IBaCC resulted in significant reductions in fecal egg counts (90%) and parasite burdens (72%), with a very high impact on female parasites (96% reduction). These data indicate that Cry5B IBaCC is a potent new treatment tool for small ruminants in the battle against H. contortus.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Sanders
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA
| | - Yue Xie
- United State Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Diet, Genomics, Immunology Laboratory, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA
| | - David Gazzola
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
| | - Hanchen Li
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
| | - Ambily Abraham
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
| | - Kelly Flanagan
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
| | - Florentina Rus
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
| | - Melanie Miller
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
| | - Yan Hu
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA; Biology Department, Worcester State University, Worcester, MA, 01602, USA
| | - Sierra Guynn
- Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA
| | - Austin Draper
- Synthetic Biomanufacturing Facility, Utah State University, Logan, UT, 84341, USA
| | - Sridhar Vakalapudi
- Synthetic Biomanufacturing Facility, Utah State University, Logan, UT, 84341, USA
| | - Katherine H Petersson
- Department of Fisheries, Animal, and Veterinary Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, 02881, USA
| | - Dante Zarlenga
- United State Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA
| | - Robert W Li
- United State Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA
| | - Joseph F Urban
- United State Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Diet, Genomics, Immunology Laboratory, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA; United State Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA
| | - Gary R Ostroff
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
| | - Anne Zajac
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA
| | - Raffi V Aroian
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA.
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