Vaccines in Congenital Toxoplasmosis: Advances and Perspectives
Congenital toxoplasmosis has a high impact on human disease worldwide, inducing serious consequences from fetus to adulthood. Despite this, there are currently no human vaccines available to prevent this infection. Most vaccination studies against Toxoplasma gondii infection used animal models in wh...
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doaj-1850258837064d679efd8e64d9db78d32021-02-15T05:59:47ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Immunology1664-32242021-02-011110.3389/fimmu.2020.621997621997Vaccines in Congenital Toxoplasmosis: Advances and PerspectivesMariana Barros0Daniela Teixeira1Manuel Vilanova2Manuel Vilanova3Manuel Vilanova4Alexandra Correia5Alexandra Correia6Alexandra Correia7Natercia Teixeira8Margarida Borges9Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade do Porto, Porto, PortugalDepartamento de Ciências Biológicas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade do Porto, Porto, PortugalImmunobiology Group, Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S), Universidade do Porto, Porto, PortugalInstituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular (IBMC), Universidade do Porto, Porto, PortugalDepartamento de Imuno-Fisiologia e Farmacologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade do Porto, Porto, PortugalImmunobiology Group, Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S), Universidade do Porto, Porto, PortugalInstituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular (IBMC), Universidade do Porto, Porto, PortugalDepartamento de Imuno-Fisiologia e Farmacologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade do Porto, Porto, PortugalApplied Molecular Biosciences Unit/Rede de Química e Tecnologia (UCIBIO/REQUIMTE), Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade do Porto, Porto, PortugalApplied Molecular Biosciences Unit/Rede de Química e Tecnologia (UCIBIO/REQUIMTE), Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade do Porto, Porto, PortugalCongenital toxoplasmosis has a high impact on human disease worldwide, inducing serious consequences from fetus to adulthood. Despite this, there are currently no human vaccines available to prevent this infection. Most vaccination studies against Toxoplasma gondii infection used animal models in which the infection was established by exogenous inoculation. Here, we review recent research on potential T. gondii vaccines using animal models in which infection was congenitally established. Endeavors in this field have so far revealed that live or subunit vaccines previously found to confer protection against extrinsically established infections can also protect, at least partially, from vertically transmitted infection. Nevertheless, there is no consensus on the more adequate immune response to protect the host and the fetus in congenital infection. Most of the vaccination studies rely on the assessment of maternal systemic immune responses, quantification of parasitic loads in the fetuses, and survival indexes and/or brain parasitic burden in the neonates. More research must be carried out not only to explore new vaccines but also to further study the nature of the elicited immune protection at the maternal-fetal interface. Particularly, the cellular and molecular effector mechanisms at the maternal-fetal interface induced by immunization remain poorly characterized. Deeper knowledge on the immune response at this specific location will certainly help to refine the vaccine-induced immunity and, consequently, to provide the most effective and safest protection against T. gondii vertical infection.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2020.621997/fullpregnancytoxoplasmosiscongenitalvaccinationmaternal-fetal |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Mariana Barros Daniela Teixeira Manuel Vilanova Manuel Vilanova Manuel Vilanova Alexandra Correia Alexandra Correia Alexandra Correia Natercia Teixeira Margarida Borges |
spellingShingle |
Mariana Barros Daniela Teixeira Manuel Vilanova Manuel Vilanova Manuel Vilanova Alexandra Correia Alexandra Correia Alexandra Correia Natercia Teixeira Margarida Borges Vaccines in Congenital Toxoplasmosis: Advances and Perspectives Frontiers in Immunology pregnancy toxoplasmosis congenital vaccination maternal-fetal |
author_facet |
Mariana Barros Daniela Teixeira Manuel Vilanova Manuel Vilanova Manuel Vilanova Alexandra Correia Alexandra Correia Alexandra Correia Natercia Teixeira Margarida Borges |
author_sort |
Mariana Barros |
title |
Vaccines in Congenital Toxoplasmosis: Advances and Perspectives |
title_short |
Vaccines in Congenital Toxoplasmosis: Advances and Perspectives |
title_full |
Vaccines in Congenital Toxoplasmosis: Advances and Perspectives |
title_fullStr |
Vaccines in Congenital Toxoplasmosis: Advances and Perspectives |
title_full_unstemmed |
Vaccines in Congenital Toxoplasmosis: Advances and Perspectives |
title_sort |
vaccines in congenital toxoplasmosis: advances and perspectives |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Immunology |
issn |
1664-3224 |
publishDate |
2021-02-01 |
description |
Congenital toxoplasmosis has a high impact on human disease worldwide, inducing serious consequences from fetus to adulthood. Despite this, there are currently no human vaccines available to prevent this infection. Most vaccination studies against Toxoplasma gondii infection used animal models in which the infection was established by exogenous inoculation. Here, we review recent research on potential T. gondii vaccines using animal models in which infection was congenitally established. Endeavors in this field have so far revealed that live or subunit vaccines previously found to confer protection against extrinsically established infections can also protect, at least partially, from vertically transmitted infection. Nevertheless, there is no consensus on the more adequate immune response to protect the host and the fetus in congenital infection. Most of the vaccination studies rely on the assessment of maternal systemic immune responses, quantification of parasitic loads in the fetuses, and survival indexes and/or brain parasitic burden in the neonates. More research must be carried out not only to explore new vaccines but also to further study the nature of the elicited immune protection at the maternal-fetal interface. Particularly, the cellular and molecular effector mechanisms at the maternal-fetal interface induced by immunization remain poorly characterized. Deeper knowledge on the immune response at this specific location will certainly help to refine the vaccine-induced immunity and, consequently, to provide the most effective and safest protection against T. gondii vertical infection. |
topic |
pregnancy toxoplasmosis congenital vaccination maternal-fetal |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2020.621997/full |
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