cellular immunity in mice vaccinated with recombinant phospholipase d toxoid of hemiscorpius lepturus scorpion

Background: hemiscorpius lepturus is one of the most dangerous scorpions in iran and the world. numerous studieshave been conducted on phospholipases, especially phospholipase d, in this scorpion’s venom, and the results haveshown this protein to be the main cause of death. therefore, one of the most effective ways of preventing fatalities is toproduce a toxoid vaccine from the deadly toxin of the venom. the present study was conducted to assess the nontoxicityof this toxoid and the safety of the vaccine candidate in balb/c mice.methods: the production of interferon-gamma and interleukin-4 cytokines in the spleen cells of the mice was measuredusing elispot assay 28 days following immunization with rpld toxoid.results: the unpaired t-test results showed a significant increase in the concentration of ifn-γ cytokine in the vaccinatedmice (p= 0.001), indicating that the immune system is directed toward the th1 pattern, while no significant differencewas observed in the levels of il-4 (p= 0.16) despite an increase in this cytokine. the in-vivo tests showed that themice immunized with interval doses of 80μg of toxoid were completely protected against 10 × the ld100 of the venom.moreover, the toxoid had no dermonecrotic effects and caused no necrotic and inflammatory complications in the rabbit skin.conclusion: as a vaccine, the toxoid has the potential to increase the th1 cytokine response and, subsequently, increaseacquired cellular immunity. thus, this toxoid appears to be able to provide an effective vaccine against the venomof hemiscorpius lepturus.