Co-Formulation of Recombinant Porcine IL-18 Enhances the Onset of Immune Response in a New Vaccine

Overview

Journal Vaccines (Basel)

Date 2023 Dec 23

PMID 38140192

Authors

Angela Hidalgo-Gajardo

Nicolas Gutierrez

Emilio Lamazares

Felipe Espinoza

Fernanda Escobar-Riquelme

Maria J Leiva

Carla Villavicencio

Karel Mena-Ulecia

Raquel Montesino

Claudia Altamirano

Oliberto Sanchez

Coralia I Rivas

Alvaro Ruiz

Jorge R Toledo

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Pig is one of the most consumed meats worldwide. One of the main conditions for pig production is Porcine Enteropathy caused by . Among the effects of this disease is chronic mild diarrhea, which affects the weight gain of pigs, generating economic losses. Vaccines available to prevent this condition do not have the desired effect, but this limitation can be overcome using adjuvants. Pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin 18 (IL-18), can improve an immune response, reducing the immune window of protection. In this study, recombinant porcine IL-18 was produced and expressed in and . The protein's biological activity was assessed in vitro and in vivo, and we determined that the protein had better immunostimulatory activity. A vaccine candidate against formulated with and without IL-18, was used to determine the pigs' cellular and humoral immune responses. Animals injected with the candidate vaccine co-formulated with IL-18 showed a significant increase of Th1 immune response markers and an earlier increase of antibodies than those vaccinated without the cytokine. This suggests that IL-18 acts as an immunostimulant and vaccine adjuvant to boost the immune response against the antigens, reducing the therapeutic window of recombinant protein-based vaccines.

Citing Articles

Development, Pre-Clinical Safety, and Immune Profile of RENOVAC-A Dimer RBD-Based Anti-Coronavirus Subunit Vaccine.

Muminov M, Tsiferova N, Pshenichnov E, Ermatova K, Charishnikova O, Abdullaev A Vaccines (Basel). 2025; 12(12.

PMID: 39772081 PMC: 11680381. DOI: 10.3390/vaccines12121420.

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