Protection against shigellosis caused by Shigella dysenteriae serotype 4 in guinea pigs using Escherichia albertii DM104 as a live vaccine candidate strain.

Recently, we reported the induction of protective immunity by environmental Escherichia albertii strain DM104 against Shigella dysenteriae in guinea pig model. In this study, we assessed three different immunization routes, such as intranasal, oral, and intrarectal routes, and revealed differences in immune responses by measuring both the serum IgG and mucosal IgA antibody titers. Protective efficacy of different routes of immunization was also determined by challenging immunized guinea pigs against live S. dysenteriae. It was found that intranasal immunization showed promising results in terms of antibody response and protective efficacy. All these results reconfirm our previous findings and additionally point out that the intranasal immunization of the environmental E. albertii strain DM104 in guinea pig model can be a better live vaccine candidate against shigellosis.