Reguraman Narendran, Hassani Asma, Philip Pretty S, Pich Dagmar, Hammerschmidt Wolfgang, Khan Gulfaraz
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates.
Research Unit Gene Vectors, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, 25, D-81377 Munich, Germany.
Vaccines (Basel). 2023 Feb 24;11(3):540. doi: 10.3390/vaccines11030540.
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is etiologically associated with a number of malignant and non-malignant conditions. Thus, a prophylactic vaccine against this virus could help to reduce the burden of many EBV-associated diseases. Previously, we reported that an EBV virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine was highly immunogenic and produced a strong humoral response in mice. However, since EBV does not infect mice, the efficacy of the VLP in preventing EBV infection could not be addressed. Here we examined, for the first time, the efficacy of the EBV-VLP vaccine using a novel rabbit model of EBV infection. Animals vaccinated with two doses of VLP elicited higher antibody responses to total EBV antigens compared to animals receiving one dose. Vaccinated animals also elicited both IgM and IgG to EBV-specific antigens, VCA and EBNA1. Analysis of peripheral blood and spleen for EBV copy number indicated that the viral load in both of these compartments was lower in animals receiving a 2-dose vaccine. However, the VLP vaccine was ineffective in preventing EBV infection. With several other EBV vaccine candidates currently at various stages of development and testing, we believe that the rabbit model of EBV infection could be a great platform for evaluating potential candidates.
爱泼斯坦-巴尔病毒（EBV）在病因上与多种恶性和非恶性疾病相关。因此，针对这种病毒的预防性疫苗可能有助于减轻许多EBV相关疾病的负担。此前，我们报道过一种EBV病毒样颗粒（VLP）疫苗具有高度免疫原性，并在小鼠中产生了强烈的体液免疫反应。然而，由于EBV不会感染小鼠，VLP在预防EBV感染方面的效果无法得到验证。在此，我们首次使用一种新型的EBV感染兔模型来检验EBV-VLP疫苗的效果。与接受一剂疫苗的动物相比，接种两剂VLP的动物对总EBV抗原产生了更高的抗体反应。接种疫苗的动物还对EBV特异性抗原VCA和EBNA1产生了IgM和IgG。对外周血和脾脏中的EBV拷贝数进行分析表明，接受两剂疫苗的动物在这两个部位的病毒载量较低。然而，VLP疫苗在预防EBV感染方面无效。鉴于目前还有其他几种EBV候选疫苗正处于不同的研发和测试阶段，我们认为EBV感染兔模型可能是评估潜在候选疫苗的一个很好的平台。
