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Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, March 2007, p. 281-287, Vol. 14, No. 3
1071-412X/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CVI.00404-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Reduction of Worm Fecundity and Canine Host Blood Loss Mediates Protection against Hookworm Infection Elicited by Vaccination with Recombinant Ac-16

Ricardo T. Fujiwara,^1,2, Bin Zhan,^1, Susana Mendez,³ Alex Loukas,⁴ Lilian L. Bueno,⁵ Yan Wang,¹ Jordan Plieskatt,¹ Yelena Oksov,⁶ Sara Lustigman,⁶ Maria Elena Bottazzi,¹ Peter Hotez,¹ and Jeffrey M. Bethony^1,2*

Human Hookworm Vaccine Initiative, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine, George Washington University, Washington, DC,¹ Cellular and Molecular Immunology Laboratory, Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, FIOCRUZ, Minas Gerais, Brazil,² Baker Institute for Animal Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York,³ Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia,⁴ Department of Parasitology, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil,⁵ Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute, New York Blood Center, New York, New York⁶

Received 30 October 2006/ Returned for modification 6 December 2006/ Accepted 16 January 2007

Hookworm infection is one of most important parasitic infection of humans, occurring in 740 million people. Here we report the protective vaccination of dogs with Ac-16, an immunodominant surface antigen from the hookworm Ancylostoma caninum. We show that immunization with Ac-16 formulated with AS03 elicited specific humoral and cellular immune responses and provided partial protection against hookworm infection and morbidity as evidenced by a significant reduction of hookworm egg counts (64% reduction; P = 0.0078) and worm-induced blood loss (P < 0.05). Moreover, specific anti-Ac-16 antibodies recognized the native protein on the surface of third-stage larvae and blocked their migration through tissue in vitro. Our data support the use of Ac-16 as a potential candidate for vaccination against hookworm infection.

Published ahead of print on 31 January 2007.

These authors contributed equally to this work.