scholarly journals Immunogenicity and protective efficacy of BBV152: a whole virion inactivated SARS CoV-2 vaccine in the Syrian hamster model

Author(s):  
Sreelekshmy Mohandas ◽  
Pragya D Yadav ◽  
Anita Shete ◽  
Priya Abraham ◽  
Krishna Mohan ◽  
...  

Abstract The availability of a safe and effective vaccine would be the eventual measure to deal with SARS-CoV-2 threat. Here, we have developed and assessed the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (BBV152) in hamsters. Three dose vaccination regime with three formulations of BBV152 induced significant titres of SARS-CoV-2 specific IgG and neutralizing antibodies. The formulation with imidazoquinoline adsorbed on alum adjuvant remarkably generated a quick and robust immune response. Th1 biased immune response was demonstrated by the detection of IgG2 antibodies. Post-SARS-CoV-2 infection, vaccinated hamsters did not show any histopathological changes in the lungs. The protection of the hamsters was evident by the rapid clearance of the virus from lower respiratory tract, reduced virus load in upper respiratory tract, absence of lung pathology and robust humoral immune response. These findings confirm the immunogenic potential of BBV152 and further protection of hamsters challenged with SARS-CoV-2.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sreelekshmy Mohandas ◽  
Pragya D Yadav ◽  
Dimpal Nyayanit ◽  
Gururaj Deshpande ◽  
Anita Shete-Aich ◽  
...  

AbstractThe emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants has posed a serious challenge to public health system and vaccination programs across the globe. We have studied the pathogenicity and virus shedding pattern of the SARS-CoV-2 VOC 202012/01 and compared with D614G variant in Syrian hamsters. VOC 202012/01 could produce disease in hamsters characterized by body weight loss and respiratory tract tropism but mild lung pathology. Further, we also documented that neutralizing antibodies developed against VOC 202012/01 could equally neutralize D614G variant. Higher load of VOC 202012/01 in the nasal wash specimens was observed during the first week of infection outcompeting the D614G variant. The findings suggest increased fitness of VOC 202012/01 to the upper respiratory tract which could lead to higher transmission. Further investigations are needed to understand the transmissibility of new variants.One-Sentence SummarySARS-CoV-2 VOC 202012/01 infected hamsters demonstrated high viral RNA shedding through the nasal secretions and significant body weight loss with mild lung pathology compared to the D614G variant.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zaigham Abbas Rizvi ◽  
Manas Ranjan Tripathy ◽  
Nishant Sharma ◽  
Sandeep Goswami ◽  
N Srikanth ◽  
...  

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) infection initiates with viral entry in upper respiratory tract leading to coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). Severe Covid-19 is characterized by pulmonary pathologies associated with respiratory failure. Thus, therapeutics aimed at inhibiting entry of the virus or its internalization in the upper respiratory tract, are of interest. Herein, we report the prophylactic application of two intra-nasal formulations provided by the National Medicinal Plant Board (NMPB), Anu oil and Til tailya in SARS-CoV2 infection hamster model. Prophylactic nasal instillation of these oil formulations exhibited reduced viral load in lungs, and resulted in reduced body weight loss and pneumonitis. In line with reduced viral load, histopathlogical analysis revealed a reduction in lung pathology in Anu oil group as compared to the control infected group. However, Til tailya group did not show a significant reduction in lung pathology. Furthermore, molecular analysis using mRNA expression profiling indicated reduced expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines genes, including Th1 and Th17 cytokines for both the intra-nasal formulations as a result of decreased viral load. Together, the prophylactic intra-nasal application of Annu oil seems to be useful in limiting both the viral load and disease severity disease in SARS-CoV2 infection in hamster model.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kairat Tabynov ◽  
Madiana Orynbassar ◽  
Leila Yelchibayeva ◽  
Nurkeldi Turebekov ◽  
Toktassyn Yerubayev ◽  
...  

Abstract Whereas multiple vaccine types have been developed to curb the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) among humans, there are very few vaccines being developed for animals including pets. To combat the threat of human-to-animal, animal-to-animal and animal-to-human transmission and the generation of new virus variants, we developed a subunit SARS-CoV-2 vaccine which is based on recombinant spike protein extracellular domain expressed in insect cells then formulated with appropriate adjuvants. Sixteen 8-12-week-old outbred female and male kittens (n=4/group) were randomly assigned into four treatment groups: Group 1, Antigen alone; Group 2, Sepivac SWE™ adjuvant; Group 3, aluminum hydroxide adjuvant; Group 4, PBS administered control animals. All animals were vaccinated twice at day 0 and 14, intramuscularly in a volume of 0.5 mL (Groups 1-3: 5 µg of Spike protein). On days 0 and 28 serum samples were collected to evaluate anti-spike IgG, inhibition of spike binding to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2), neutralizing antibodies to Wuhan-01 SARS-CoV-2 D614G (wild-type) and Delta variant viruses, and whole blood for hematology studies. At day 28, all groups were challenged with SARS-CoV-2 wild-type virus 106 TCID50 intranasally. On day 31, tissue samples (lung, heart, and nasal turbinates) were collected for histology, viral RNA detection and virus titration. Parameters evaluated in this study included safety, immunogenicity, and protection from infection with wild-type SARS-CoV-2 virus. After two immunizations, both vaccines induced high titers of serum anti-spike IgG, ACE-2 binding inhibitory and neutralizing antibodies against both wild-type and Delta variant virus in the juvenile cats. Both subunit vaccines provided protection of juvenile cats against virus shedding from the upper respiratory tract, and against viral replication in the lower respiratory tract and hearts. These promising data warrant ongoing evaluation of the vaccine’s ability to protect cats against SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant and in particular to prevent transmission of the infection to naïve cats, before proceeding with large-scale field trials.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zaigham Abbas Rizvi ◽  
Manas Ranjan Tripathy ◽  
Nishant Sharma ◽  
Sandeep Goswami ◽  
N Srikanth ◽  
...  

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) infection initiates with viral entry in the upper respiratory tract, leading to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Severe COVID-19 is characterized by pulmonary pathologies associated with respiratory failure. Thus, therapeutics aimed at inhibiting the entry of the virus or its internalization in the upper respiratory tract are of interest. Herein, we report the prophylactic application of two intranasal formulations provided by the National Medicinal Plant Board (NMPB), Anu oil and til tailya, in the hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Prophylactic intra-nasal instillation of these oil formulations exhibited reduced viral load in lungs and resulted in reduced body weight loss and lung-pneumonitis. In line with reduced viral load, histopathological analysis revealed a reduction in lung pathology in the Anu oil group as compared to the control infected group. However, the til tailya group did not show a significant reduction in lung pathology. Furthermore, molecular analysis using mRNA expression profiling indicated reduced expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine genes, including Th1 and Th17 cytokines for both the intranasal formulations as a result of decreased viral load. Together, the prophylactic intranasal application of Anu oil seems to be useful in limiting both viral load and severity in SARS-CoV2 infection in the hamster model.


Author(s):  
Min-Wen Ku ◽  
Maryline Bourgine ◽  
Pierre Authié ◽  
Jodie Lopez ◽  
Kirill Nemirov ◽  
...  

SummaryTo develop a vaccine candidate against COVID-19, we generated a Lentiviral Vector (LV), eliciting neutralizing antibodies against the Spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2. Systemic vaccination by this vector in mice, in which the expression of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor hACE2 has been induced by transduction of respiratory tract cells by an adenoviral vector, conferred only partial protection, despite an intense serum neutralizing activity. However, targeting the immune response to the respiratory tract through an intranasal boost with this LV resulted in > 3 log10 decrease in the lung viral loads and avoided local inflammation. Moreover, both integrative and non-integrative LV platforms displayed a strong vaccine efficacy and inhibited lung deleterious injury in golden hamsters, which are naturally permissive to SARS-CoV-2 replication and restitute the human COVID-19 physiopathology. Our results provide evidence of marked prophylactic effects of the LV-based vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 and designate the intranasal immunization as a powerful approach against COVID-19.HighlightsA lentiviral vector encoding for Spike predicts a promising COVID-19 vaccineTargeting the immune response to the upper respiratory tract is key to protectionIntranasal vaccination induces protective mucosal immunity against SARS-CoV-2Lung anti-Spike IgA responses correlate with protection and reduced inflammation


Viruses ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michela Perotti ◽  
Laurent Perez

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infects more than 70% of the human population worldwide. HCMV is responsible for high morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients and remains the leading viral cause of congenital birth defects. Despite considerable efforts in vaccine and therapeutic development, HCMV infection still represents an unmet clinical need and a life-threatening disease in immunocompromised individuals and newborns. Immune repertoire interrogation of HCMV seropositive patients allowed the identification of several potential antigens for vaccine design. However, recent HCMV vaccine clinical trials did not lead to a satisfactory outcome in term of efficacy. Therefore, combining antigens with orthogonal technologies to further increase the induction of neutralizing antibodies could improve the likelihood of a vaccine to reach protective efficacy in humans. Indeed, presentation of multiple copies of an antigen in a repetitive array is known to drive a more robust humoral immune response than its soluble counterpart. Virus-like particles (VLPs) and nanoparticles (NPs) are powerful platforms for multivalent antigen presentation. Several self-assembling proteins have been successfully used as scaffolds to present complex glycoprotein antigens on their surface. In this review, we describe some key aspects of the immune response to HCMV and discuss the scaffolds that were successfully used to increase vaccine efficacy against viruses with unmet medical need.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. e1009383
Author(s):  
Drishya Kurup ◽  
Delphine C. Malherbe ◽  
Christoph Wirblich ◽  
Rachael Lambert ◽  
Adam J. Ronk ◽  
...  

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an emergent coronavirus that has caused a worldwide pandemic. Although human disease is often asymptomatic, some develop severe illnesses such as pneumonia, respiratory failure, and death. There is an urgent need for a vaccine to prevent its rapid spread as asymptomatic infections accounting for up to 40% of transmission events. Here we further evaluated an inactivated rabies vectored SARS-CoV-2 S1 vaccine CORAVAX in a Syrian hamster model. CORAVAX adjuvanted with MPLA-AddaVax, a TRL4 agonist, induced high levels of neutralizing antibodies and generated a strong Th1-biased immune response. Vaccinated hamsters were protected from weight loss and viral replication in the lungs and nasal turbinates three days after challenge with SARS-CoV-2. CORAVAX also prevented lung disease, as indicated by the significant reduction in lung pathology. This study highlights CORAVAX as a safe, immunogenic, and efficacious vaccine that warrants further assessment in human trials.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Drishya Kurup ◽  
Delphine C. Malherbe ◽  
Christoph Wirblich ◽  
Rachael Lambert ◽  
Adam J. Ronk ◽  
...  

SummarySevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an emergent coronavirus that has caused a worldwide pandemic. Although human disease is often asymptomatic, some develop severe illnesses such as pneumonia, respiratory failure, and death. There is an urgent need for a vaccine to prevent its rapid spread as asymptomatic infections accounting for up to 40% of transmission events. Here we further evaluated an inactivated rabies vectored SARS-CoV-2 S1 vaccine CORAVAX in a Syrian hamster model. CORAVAX adjuvanted with MPLA-AddaVax, a TRL4 agonist, induced high levels of neutralizing antibodies and generated a strong Th1-biased immune response. Vaccinated hamsters were protected from weight loss and viral replication in the lungs and nasal turbinates three days after challenge with SARS-CoV-2. CORAVAX also prevented lung disease, as indicated by the significant reduction in lung pathology. This study highlights CORAVAX as a safe, immunogenic, and efficacious vaccine that warrants further assessment in human trials.


Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 700
Author(s):  
Franziska Neumann ◽  
Ruben Rose ◽  
Janine Römpke ◽  
Olaf Grobe ◽  
Thomas Lorentz ◽  
...  

The humoral immunity after SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination was examined. Convalescent sera after infection with variants of concern (VOCs: B.1.1.7, n = 10; B.1.351, n = 1) and sera from 100 vaccinees (Pfizer/BioNTech, BNT162b2, n = 33; Moderna, mRNA-1273, n = 11; AstraZeneca, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19/AZD1222, n = 56) were tested for the presence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) directed against the viral spike (S)-protein, its receptor-binding domain (RBD), the nucleoprotein (N) and for virus-neutralizing antibodies (VNA). For the latter, surrogate assays (sVNT) and a Vero-cell based neutralization test (cVNT) were used. Maturity of IgG was determined by measuring the avidity in an immunoblot (IB). Past VOC infection resulted in a broad reactivity of anti-S IgG (100%), anti-RBD IgG (100%), and anti-N IgG (91%), while latter were absent in 99% of vaccinees. Starting approximately two weeks after the first vaccine dose, anti-S IgG (75–100%) and particularly anti-RBD IgG (98–100%) were detectable. After the second dose, their titers increased and were higher than in the convalescents. The sVNT showed evidence of VNA in 91% of convalescents and in 80–100%/100% after first/second vaccine dose, respectively. After the second dose, an increase in VNA titer and IgGs of high avidity were demonstrated by cVNT and IB, respectively. Re-vaccination contributes to a more robust immune response.


2009 ◽  
Vol 83 (7) ◽  
pp. 3228-3237 ◽  
Author(s):  
François-Loic Cosset ◽  
Philippe Marianneau ◽  
Geraldine Verney ◽  
Fabrice Gallais ◽  
Noel Tordo ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The cell entry and humoral immune response of the human pathogen Lassa virus (LV), a biosafety level 4 (BSL4) Old World arenavirus, are not well characterized. LV pseudoparticles (LVpp) are a surrogate model system that has been used to decipher factors and routes involved in LV cell entry under BSL2 conditions. Here, we describe LVpp, which are highly infectious, with titers approaching those obtained with pseudoparticles displaying G protein of vesicular stomatitis virus and their the use for the characterization of LV cell entry and neutralization. Upon cell attachment, LVpp utilize endocytic vesicles for cell entry as described for many pH-dependent viruses. However, the fusion of the LV glycoproteins is activated at unusually low pH values, with optimal fusion occurring between pH 4.5 and 3, a pH range at which fusion characteristics of viral glycoproteins have so far remained largely unexplored. Consistent with a shifted pH optimum for fusion activation, we found wild-type LV and LVpp to display a remarkable resistance to exposure to low pH. Finally, LVpp allow the fast and quantifiable detection of neutralizing antibodies in human and animal sera and will thus facilitate the study of the humoral immune response in LV infections.


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