River blindness, caused by the filarial parasite
Onchocerca volvulus, is a major socio-economic and public health problem in Sub-Saharan Africa. In January 2015,
The Onchocerciasis Vaccine for Africa (TOVA) Initiative has been launched with the aim of providing new tools to complement mass drug administration (MDA) of ivermectin, thereby promoting elimination of onchocerciasis in Africa. In this context we here present
Onchocerca volvulus glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (
Ov-GAPDH) as a possible DNA vaccine candidate. We report that in a laboratory model for filariasis, immunization with
Ov-GAPDH led to a significant reduction of adult worm load and microfilaraemia in BALB/c mice after challenge infection with the filarial parasite
Litomosoides sigmodontis. Mice were either vaccinated with
Ov-GAPDH.DNA plasmid (
Ov-
pGAPDH.DNA) alone or in combination with recombinantly expressed
Ov-GAPDH protein (
Ov-
rGAPDH). During the following challenge infection of immunized and control mice with
L. sigmodontis, those formulations which included the DNA plasmid, led to a significant reduction of adult worm loads (up to 57% median reduction) and microfilaraemia (up to 94% reduction) in immunized animals. In a further experiment, immunization with a mixture of four overlapping, synthetic
Ov-GAPDH peptides (
Ov-GAPDH
pept), with alum as adjuvant, did not significantly reduce worm loads. Our results indicate that DNA vaccination with
Ov-GAPDH has protective potential against filarial challenge infection in the mouse model. This suggests a transfer of the approach into the cattle
Onchocerca ochengi model, where it is possible to investigate the effects of this vaccination in the context of a natural host–parasite relationship.
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