?Sexual dimorphism of humoral immunity in experimental vaccines against Trypanosoma cruzi.?

Congreso; XXXII Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Protozoología; 2020

There is evidence that vaccine efficacy is affected by diverse parameters such as age, nutritional status, genetic diversity, pre-existing diseases and sex. Broadly, biomedical research carried out in animals tend to analyse only one sex, assuming the results apply to the other sex.Thus, the inclusion of both sexes in studies of immune function becomes increasingly imperative.Historically, vaccine research against T. cruzi has been focused on antibody response evaluation. In this context, we aim to evaluate possible variations in humoral response induced after experimental vaccine administration against T. cruzi between BALB/c males (M) and females (F). The immunization protocol consisted of three doses of trans-sialidase (TS)-based vaccine formulations inoculated at the nasal mucosa (10µg of TS emulsified in ISCOM-like (ISPA) or 5t54r4c-di-AMP adjuvants). Controls were treated with saline solution (SS) or TS alone. Fifteen days after the last immunization, blood samples were obtained from the facial vein to determine the levels of specific antibodies (IgG1/IgG2a). Later, mice were challenged orally with 3000 parasites of Tulahuén strain. Parasitemia and clinical score were evaluated until day 100 post-infection. TS-specific IgG2a and IgG1 levels in TS+c-di-AMP or TS+ISPA immunized F were enhanced compared to SS or treated with TS alone (p