Biomedical Sciences, Dstl Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP4 0JQ, UK.
Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther. 2013 Aug;11(8):817-29. doi: 10.1586/14787210.2013.814432.
Plague has been a scourge of mankind for centuries, and outbreaks continue to the present day. The virulence mechanisms employed by the etiological agent Yersinia pestis are reviewed in the context of the available prophylactic and therapeutic strategies for plague. Although antibiotics are available, resistance is emerging in this dangerous pathogen. Therapeutics used in the clinic are discussed and innovative approaches to the design and development of new therapeutic compounds are reviewed. Currently there is no licensed vaccine available for prevention of plague in the USA or western Europe, although both live attenuated strains and killed whole-cell extracts have been used historically. Live strains are still approved for human use in some parts of the world, such as the former Soviet Union, but poor safety profiles render them unacceptable to many countries. The development of safe, effective next-generation vaccines, including the recombinant subunit vaccine currently used in clinical trials is discussed.
鼠疫是几个世纪以来一直困扰人类的灾难，目前仍有爆发。本文从现有的鼠疫预防和治疗策略出发，综述了病原体鼠疫耶尔森氏菌的毒力机制。尽管抗生素可用，但这种危险病原体的耐药性正在出现。本文讨论了临床上使用的治疗方法，并回顾了设计和开发新型治疗化合物的创新方法。目前，美国和西欧都没有可用于预防鼠疫的许可疫苗，尽管历史上曾使用过减毒活疫苗和全细胞灭活疫苗。在世界上的一些地区，如前苏联，仍批准使用活疫苗，但由于安全性差，许多国家无法接受。本文讨论了安全有效的下一代疫苗的开发，包括目前正在临床试验中使用的重组亚单位疫苗。
