Partial protection with a chimeric tetraspanin-leucine aminopeptidase subunit vaccine against Opisthorchis viverrini infection in hamsters.

Opisthorchiasis is a serious public health problem in East Asia and Europe. The pathology involves hepatobiliary abnormalities such as cholangitis, choledocholithiasis and tissue fibrosis that can develop into cholangiocarcinoma. Prevention of infection is difficult as multiple social and behavioral factors are involved, thus, progress on a prophylactic vaccine against opisthorchiasis is urgently needed. Opisthorchis viverrini tetraspanin-2 (Ov-TSP-2) was previously described as a potential vaccine candidate conferring partial protection against O. viverrini infections in hamsters. In this study, we generated a recombinant chimeric form of the large extracellular loop of Ov-TSP-2 and O. viverrini leucine aminopeptidase, designated rOv-TSP-2-LAP. Hamsters were vaccinated with 100 and 200 µg of rOv-TSP-2-LAP formulated with alum-CpG adjuvant via intraperitoneal injection and evaluated the level of protection against O. viverrini infection. Our results demonstrated that the number of worms recovered from hamsters vaccinated with either 100 or 200 µg of rOv-TSP-2-LAP were significantly reduced by 27% compared to the adjuvant control group. Furthermore, the average length of worms recovered from animals vaccinated with 200 μg of rOv-TSP-2-LAP was significantly shorter than those from the control adjuvant group. Immunized hamsters showed significantly increased serum levels of anti-rOv-TSP-2 IgG and IgG1 compared to adjuvant control group, suggesting that rOv-TSP-2-LAP vaccination induces a mixed Th1/Th2 immune response in hamsters. Therefore, the development of a suitable vaccine against opisthorchiasis requires further work involving new vaccine technologies to improve immunogenicity and protective efficacy.