“SEXUAL HORMONE EFFECTS UPON EXPERIMENTAL VACCINATION PROCESS AGAINST T. cruzi”

CAMILA BULFONI BALBI; MARÍA FLORENCIA PACINI; BRENDA DINATALE; MARISA DERIO; CECILIA FARRÉ; ESTEFANIA PROCHETTO; CHAPO G.; IVAN MARCIPAR; GABRIEL CABRERA; ANA R. PÉREZ

San Luis

Congreso; LXXI ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ARGENTINEAN SOCIETY OF IMMUNOLOGY (SAI); 2023

Sociedad Argentina de Inmunologia

Sexual hormones can affect the immune response, and therefore may also influence the efficacy of vaccines. However, most preclinical studies about vaccine immunogenicity and efficacy tend to evaluate only females (F), since they are known to have a better humoral response, assuming that the results apply to the opposite sex. Additionally, there is evidence that male (M) mice are more susceptible to T. cruzi infection than F. In this context, our objective was to evaluate the influence of sex and sexual hormones on the humoral and cellular response triggered after administering an experimental vaccine against T. cruzi. We worked with both sexes of BALB/c mice (n=5-8/group). Additionally, M were divided into two groups, one of them was gonadectomized -MGx- and another group underwent sham surgery -MSham-. All of them received 3 doses (1 every 15 days) of the following formulations: Trans-sialidase (TS, 10 µg/dose), TS plus c-di-AMP adjuvant (TS+A) or saline solution as vehicle (V). Fifteen days after immunization completion, the levels of specific antibodies against TS (total IgG and IgG2a) were assayed by in-house ELISA. Cellular response against TS was evaluated through a delayed hypersensitivity test by the inoculation of 5 µg of TS on the footpad. The result showed that in both sexes, TS+A induced a significant enhancement of specific total IgG and IgG2a compared to the rest immunized groups (p