Protective Effect of a Prime-Boost Strategy with the Ts87 Vaccine against Trichinella spiralis Infection in Mice

Abstract EN

Trichinellosis is a widespread zoonosis primarily caused by Trichinella spiralis.

Mucosal immunity is crucial for preventing Trichinella spiralis infection.

In our previous study, a DNA vaccine with the Trichinella antigen Ts87 delivered by an attenuated Salmonella typhimurium elicited partial protection against Trichinella spiralis infection in mice.

In the current study, to elicit a more robust immune response and develop a potent vaccination strategy against trichinellosis, a heterologous prime-boost vaccination regimen for Ts87 was used in mice and the protective efficacy was evaluated compared to the homologous DNA prime-boost or protein prime-boost immunization alone.

The results revealed that the DNA-prime/protein-boost vaccination with Ts87 induced higher levels of both humoral and cellular immune responses.

The challenge results showed that mice with the DNA-prime/protein-boost vaccination displayed higher muscle larval reduction than those immunized with DNA prime-boost or protein prime-boost.

The results demonstrated that mice vaccinated with Ts87 in a DNA-prime/protein-boost strategy effectively elicited a local IgA response and mixed Th1/Th2 immune response that might be responsible for improved protection against Trichinella spiralis infection.