AN EXPERIMENTAL VACCINE FOR HEPATITIS E ADJUVANTATED WITH SAPONINS DERIVED FROM LEAVES FROM THE SOAP TREE QUILLAJA BRASILIENSIS

MÜLLER, MELISA FLORENCIA ; SACUR, JACINTO ALFREDO ; VERA, MARÍA DANIELA ; MATÍAS BRANCHER, JULIA RAFAELA ; VILLENA, JULIO ; KITAZAWA, HARUKI ; WALLACE, FEDERICO; FERREIRA, FERNANDO2; OLIVARO, CRISTINA

Simposio; 2nd International Hepatitis E Symposium; 2023

Hepatitis E is increasingly reported in industrialized countries mainly associated to zoonotic transmission via consumption of meat products derived from contaminated animals. Hepatitis E virus genotype 3 (HEV-3) is the main genotype associated with this transmission. Although swine, the main reservoir, do not suffer from the disease, a veterinary vaccine could help controlling the disease before it reaches human beings. QuilA® is a potent adjuvant used in veterinary vaccines and consists of a mixture of saponins obtained from the barks of the Chilean tree Quillaja Saponaria. The high demand for the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries and the tree destructive source have posed the trees at risk. We have recently obtained saponins extracts from the leaves and bark of Quillaja brasilensis (an endemic tree from Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, and Paraguay) and isolated a novel molecule, Qb1, with adjuvant potential. The aim of this study was to evaluate an experimental vaccine consisting of the recombinant protein HEV-3 ORF2 mixed with the extracts and purified saponins of Quillaja brasiliensis.