Identification of Leishmania infantum chagasi proteins in urine of patients with visceral leishmaniasis: a promising antigen discovery approach of vaccine candidates

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a serious lethal parasitic disease caused by Leishmania donovani in Asia and by Leishmania infantum chagasi in southern Europe and South America. VL is endemic in 47 countries with an annual incidence estimated to be 500,000 cases. This high incidence is due in part to the lack of an efficacious vaccine. Here, we introduce an innovative approach to directly identify parasite vaccine candidate antigens that are abundantly produced in vivo in humans with VL. We combined RP-HPLC and mass spectrometry and categorized three L. infantum chagasi proteins, presumably produced in spleen, liver and bone marrow lesions and excreted in the patients' urine. Specifically, these proteins were the following: Li-isd1 (XP_001467866.1), Li-txn1 (XP_001466642.1) and Li-ntf2 (XP_001463738.1). Initial vaccine validation studies were performed with the rLi-ntf2 protein produced in Escherichia coli mixed with the adjuvant BpMPLA-SE. This formulation stimulated potent Th1 response in BALB/c mice. Compared to control animals, mice immunized with Li-ntf2+ BpMPLA-SE had a marked parasite burden reduction in spleens at 40 days post-challenge with virulent L. infantum chagasi. These results strongly support the proposed antigen discovery strategy of vaccine candidates to VL and opens novel possibilities for vaccine development to other serious infectious diseases.

[Susceptibility of Vero cell line to vaccine strains of the measles virus]

Vero cells used by distinct measles vaccine control laboratories had their susceptibility to Moraten, Schwarz and Biken CAM-70 vaccine strains assayed. Of a total of 72 lots of measles vaccine whose potency was titrated by microtechnique in two Vero cell samples (Vero IB and Vero INCQS), 25 had been produced with Moraten strain, 24 with Schwarz and 23 with Biken CAM-70. The statistical analysis of the results demonstrated that both Vero cells assayed presented comparable susceptibility to Moraten and Biken CAM-70 strains. As to the Schwarz strain, Vero IB cells were more susceptible than the other cell sample tested, thus confirming the existence of different sensitivities of Vero cells to some measles vaccine strains, or even to viruses derived from the same strain but with different passage histories. An altered cell susceptibility to virus replication may significantly alter the results in potency testing. Such alteration may be caused not only by the adoption of distinct protocols for the maintenance of cell cultures by different control laboratories but also by the methodology followed in the vaccine titration. In order to minimize the differences existing among the results obtained in the potency testing, it is suggested that all control laboratories should use the same protocols for cell culture maintenance as well as for vaccine potency testing.