Virus-like particles vaccine containing Clonorchis sinensis tegumental protein induces partial protection against Clonorchis sinensis infection

Background: human clonorchiasis,caused by the infection of clonorchis sinensis,is one of the major health problems in southeast asia. however,vaccine efficacy against c. sinensis infection remains largely unknown. methods: in this study,for the first time,we generated virus-like particles (vlps) vaccine containing the c. sinensis tegumental protein 22.3 kda (cstp 22.3) and the influenza matrix protein (m1) as a core protein,and investigated the vaccine efficacy in sprague-dawley rats. results: intranasal immunization of vlps vaccine induced c. sinensis-specific igg,igg2a and igg2c in the sera and iga responses in the feces and intestines. notably,upon challenge infection with c. sinensis metacercariae,significantly lower adult worm loads (70.2%) were measured in the liver of rats immunized with vlps,compared to those of naïve rats. furthermore,vlps immunization induced antibody secreting cells (asc) responses and cd4+/cd8+ t cell responses in the spleen. conclusions: our results indicated that vlps vaccine containing c. sinensis cstp 22.3 kda provided partial protection against c. sisnensis infection. thus,vlps could be a potential vaccine candidate against c. sinensis. © 2017 the author(s).