RESUMO
Pneumocystis spp. are opportunistic fungal pathogens that are closely associated with severe pneumonia and pulmonary complications in patients with impaired immunity. In this study, the antigenic epitopes of the gene encoding the 55 kDa antigen fragment of Pneumocystis (p55), which may play an important role in Pneumocystis pneumonia, were analyzed. A gene containing tandem variants of the p55 antigen was synthesized and named the tandem antigen gene (TAG). TAG's potential as a DNA vaccine was assessed in immunosuppressed rats. Immunization with p55-TAG DNA vaccine significantly reduced both the pathogen burden and lung-weight to body-weight ratios. Additionally, p55-TAG vaccination in immunosuppressed rats elicited both cell-mediated and humoral immunity.
Assuntos
Antígenos de Fungos/genética , Antígenos de Fungos/imunologia , Proteínas Fúngicas/genética , Proteínas Fúngicas/imunologia , Vacinas Fúngicas/imunologia , Pneumocystis carinii/imunologia , Pneumonia por Pneumocystis/prevenção & controle , Vacinas de DNA/imunologia , Animais , Anticorpos Antifúngicos/sangue , Anticorpos Antifúngicos/imunologia , Líquido da Lavagem Broncoalveolar/imunologia , Citocinas/sangue , Epitopos de Linfócito B/imunologia , Feminino , Vacinas Fúngicas/biossíntese , Vacinas Fúngicas/genética , Vacinas Fúngicas/farmacologia , Células HEK293 , Humanos , Imunidade Celular/imunologia , Imunoglobulina G/sangue , Pneumopatias Fúngicas/patologia , Pneumopatias Fúngicas/prevenção & controle , Pneumocystis carinii/genética , Pneumonia por Pneumocystis/imunologia , Pneumonia por Pneumocystis/microbiologia , Distribuição Aleatória , Ratos , Ratos Sprague-Dawley , Proteínas Recombinantes/imunologia , Linfócitos T/imunologia , Vacinas de DNA/biossíntese , Vacinas de DNA/genética , Vacinas de DNA/farmacologiaRESUMO
Two special cases of human thelaziasis were reported in China: an old farmer with heavy infection by 36 worms and a 7-year-old boy with infection by eight worms. Thelazia callipaeda was morphologically identified and confirmed by mitochondrial cox1 gene sequencing.
