Valderas-García Elora, Zafra Rafael, Rufino-Moya Pablo J, Martínez-Moreno F Javier, Ruiz-Campillo María T, Molina-Hernández Verónica, González-Miguel Javier, Siles-Lucas Mar, Pérez José, Martínez-Moreno Álvaro, Buffoni Leandro
Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Área de Parasitología, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Córdoba, Ctra. Madrid-Cádiz, km 396, 14071, Córdoba, Spain.
Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de León, Campus de Vegazana s/n, 24007, León, Spain.
Sci Rep. 2025 May 3;15(1):15512. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-00109-z.
Vaccine approaches for controlling Fasciola hepatica present a promising avenue, particularly considering increasing resistance to anthelmintic treatments and concerns over chemical residues. Targeting vaccine candidates that are expressed and secreted during the early infective stage of F. hepatica could offer an effective alternative. This approach aims to inhibit the invasion and migration of juvenile parasites, which have not yet fully developed their immune evasion mechanisms, thereby preventing parasite establishment and development in the host. In this study, we evaluated the host immune response and the protective efficacy of a vaccine cocktail comprising four antigens -KTSPIDP, VGHC1, CRTA, and CAL- in sheep infected with F. hepatica. These parasitic antigens were selected based on a proteomic analysis coupled with an "in vitro" interaction model between newly excysted juvenile worms and mouse intestinal epithelial cell cultures. Despite inducing a strong IgG1 response, vaccination did not reduce liver fluke burden nor faecal egg counts. However, it reduced liver pathology caused by the parasite. Our findings highlight the need for further research into early-stage interactions between F. hepatica and the host. Understanding these interactions could facilitate the progress of vaccines capable of disrupting parasite development and transmission in livestock, potentially reducing the economic and health impacts associated with fasciolosis.
控制肝片吸虫的疫苗方法是一条很有前景的途径,尤其是考虑到对驱虫治疗的耐药性不断增加以及对化学残留的担忧。针对肝片吸虫早期感染阶段表达和分泌的候选疫苗可能会提供一种有效的替代方法。这种方法旨在抑制尚未完全发展出免疫逃避机制的幼虫的入侵和迁移,从而防止寄生虫在宿主体内建立和发育。在本研究中,我们评估了一种包含四种抗原——KTSPIDP、VGHC1、CRTA和CAL——的疫苗混合物在感染肝片吸虫的绵羊中的宿主免疫反应和保护效果。这些寄生虫抗原是基于蛋白质组学分析以及新脱囊幼虫与小鼠肠上皮细胞培养物之间的“体外”相互作用模型选择的。尽管诱导了强烈的IgG1反应,但疫苗接种并未降低肝吸虫负担和粪便虫卵计数。然而,它减轻了寄生虫引起的肝脏病理变化。我们的研究结果凸显了进一步研究肝片吸虫与宿主早期相互作用的必要性。了解这些相互作用有助于开发能够破坏家畜体内寄生虫发育和传播的疫苗,有可能减少与肝片吸虫病相关的经济和健康影响。