Production and evaluation of a vaccine against gastro-intestinal nematodes (UDG.3762)

Gastro-intestinal nematodes place a major constraint on ruminant production and welfare throughout the world and cause serious production losses. The development of (sub-unit) broad spectrum vaccines for the protection against nematodes has a high priority, because of serious limitations in the use of anthelmintics due to the emergence of drug-resistant parasites. The development of such vaccines depends on a detailed understanding of the host defense and on the identification of parasite antigens, e.g. target sequences, which induce protection. We have shown that excretory/secretory (E/S) products of the sheep nematode Haemonchus contortus contain several proteins which elicit a strong and protective immune response in the host.

The objective of this project is to develop a broad spectrum vaccine against gastro-intestinal nematodes of sheep and eventually cattle based on these E/S products or derivatives thereof. We will analyze whether these E/S products can induce protective immunity against other gastro-intestinal nematodes of sheep and these studies will also be extended to various sheep breeds. These experiments will determine whether a multivalent vaccine is feasible. In concurrence we will clone and sequence the genes encoding relevant E/S products and test expressed recombinant proteins or relevant synthetic peptides in vaccination trials. In addition, methods to induce specific immunogenicity using proprietary adjuvanting techniques will also be done.

Resultaten van het onderzoek