Synthetic parasites: a successful mucosal nanoparticle vaccine against Toxoplasma congenital infection in mice

Céline Ducournau (1) , Thi Thanh Loi Nguyen (1) , Rodolphe Carpentier (2, 3, 4, 5) , Isabelle Lantier (1) , Stéphanie Germon (1) , Flavien Précausta (1) , Pierre-Jean Pisella (1) , Hervé Leroux (1) , Nathalie van Langendonck (6) , Didier Betbeder (2, 3, 4, 5) , Isabelle Dimier-Poisson (1)

1 UMR ISP - Infectiologie et Santé Publique
2 LIRIC - Lille Inflammation Research International Center - U 995
3 Université de Lille, Droit et Santé
4 CHRU Lille - Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire [CHU Lille]
5 UA - Université d'Artois
6 Service de Parasitologie-Mycologie-Médecine Tropicale

Development of protein vaccine to prevent congenital infection is a major public health priority. Our goal is the design of mucosal synthetic pathogen inducing protective immune responses against congenital toxoplasmosis. Mice were immunized intranasally, establishing pregnancy and challenging orally. Placental immune response, congenital infection, pup growth, parasitic load rates were studied. Pups born to vaccinated infected dams had significantly fewer brain cysts, no intraocular inflammation and normal growth. Protection was associated with a placental cellular Th1 response downregulated by IL-6 and correlated with persistence of vaccine for few hours in the nose before being totally eliminated. Our vaccine conferred high protection against congenital toxoplasmosis. These results provide support for future studies of other congenital vaccine.

Mots clés: congenital toxoplasmosis; nanoparticles; nasal vaccination; nanoparticle; vaccine; mice; public health

Mots clés: parasite; nanoparticule; vaccin; toxoplasmose congenitale; souris; santé publique

Domaines: Microbiologie et Parasitologie

Céline Ducournau, Thi Thanh Loi Nguyen, Rodolphe Carpentier, Isabelle Lantier, Stéphanie Germon, et al.. Synthetic parasites: a successful mucosal nanoparticle vaccine against Toxoplasma congenital infection in mice. Future Microbiology, 2017, 12 (5), pp.393-405. ⟨10.2217/fmb-2016-0146⟩. ⟨hal-01608412⟩