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Objective The aim of the present research was to evaluate the correlation of vertically transmitted IgG antibodies induced by T. cruzi and newborn early outcome assessment, mainly birth weight and gestational age. Methods We performed a cross-sectional study with 183 pregnant women (64 with asymptomatic Chagas disease) and their newborns. Both were subjected to complete clinical examination. Peripheral parasitemia was assessed in mother and neonates by parasite detection through microscopic examination of the buffycoat from mother's peripheral and cord blood. Antibodies induced by T. cruzi, such as anti-FRA, anti-B13, anti-p2[beta] and anti-T. cruzi were assessed by immunoassay. Birth weight, general condition evaluation by APGAR Score and gestational age by Capurro Score, were determined in newborns. Results The rate of stillbirth background and pregnancy-induced hypertension were higher in patients with Chagas disease (p = 0.01 and p = 0.02, respectively). Parasitemia was detectable in 17 mothers and 4 newborns. The newborns of mothers with detectable parasitemia presented decreased gestational age (p = 0.006) and body weight (p = 0.04). Mostly all the mothers with Chagas disease and all their newborns have positive values of antibodies induced by T. cruzi; however, only anti-p2[beta] showed to be related to the presence of complication during pregnancy (OR 2.35, p = 0.036), and to low birth weight (OR 1.55, p = 0.02). Conclusions Low birth weight and decreased postnatal estimation of maturity were related to detectable parasitemia in the mother. Also, vertical transmission of T. cruzi-induced autoantibodies might have clinical implication in newborns given the negative association between anti-p2[beta] values and weight., Author(s): Miguel Hernan Vicco[sup.1] [sup.2] , Luz Rodeles[sup.1] [sup.2] , Gabriela Soledad Capovilla[sup.2] , Melina Perrig[sup.1] , Ana Gabriela Herrera Choque[sup.3] , Ivan Marcipar[sup.1] , Oscar Bottasso[sup.4] , Celeste Rodriguez[sup.3] [...]

A successful Staphylococcus aureus vaccine should elicit a long-term antibody response that prevents establishment of the infection. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the functional role of antibodies raised against different S. aureus CP5 vaccines in invasion to bovine mammary epithelial cells (MAC-T) and phagocytosis by bovine milk macrophages in vitro. Sera and whey from cows immunized with a whole-cell S. aureus CP5 vaccine adjuvanted with Al(OH)3 or with ISCOM Matrix, significantly reduced internalization of S. aureus in MAC-T cells without significant differences between both groups. The effect of antibodies generated by a S. aureus whole-cell and a lysate vaccine formulated with ISCOM Matrix was also evaluated. Sera and whey from both immunized groups significantly reduced S. aureus internalization in MAC-T cells without significant differences between both groups. Whey antibodies against whole-cell and lysate vaccines were also able to inhibit internalization in MAC-T cells of a heterologous S. aureus strain. In addition, sera from animals vaccinated with S. aureus lysate or bacterin promoted milk macrophage phagocytosis. These results provide an insight into the potential mechanisms by which these vaccines can afford protection to the mammary gland against S. aureus intramammary infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Anti-B13 antibodies in chronic chagasic patients during 24 years of follow-up • Anti-B13 antibodies would not be involved in the genesis of cardiac lesions • Trypanocidal treatment produced a significant decrease in anti-B13 antibodies • Anti-B13 antibody levels were not associated with clinical evolution The immunodominant B13 protein of Trypanosoma cruzi is found on the surface of trypomastigotes and exhibits cross-reactivity with the human cardiac myosin heavy chain; for which antibodies against this parasitic antigen may be involved in the development of disease pathology. In a cohort of chronically T. cruzi -infected adults, undergoing trypanocidal treatment, or not, we, therefore, decided to evaluate the levels of anti-B13 antibodies (ELISA-B13) and its eventual relationship with heart complaints. Two hundred twenty-eight serum samples from 76 chronically infected adults with an average follow-up of 24 years were analyzed. Thirty of them had received trypanocidal treatment. Among treated patients, anti-B13 Ab levels in successive samples showed a significant decrease in reactivity as the years after treatment increased (ANOVA test, p = 0.0049). At the end of the follow-up, 36.7% became non-reactive for ELISA B13. Untreated patients did not have significant variations in the level of anti-B13 antibodies during follow-up. None of the treated patients had electrocardiographic changes compatible with chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy, whereas 21.7% of those undergoing no treatment did show such kind of pathological electrocardiogram tracings. ELISA-B13 was reactive in all cases with heart involvement. Among untreated patients, there were no significant differences in anti-B13 antibodies when comparing individuals without proven pathology with those with chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy. Although treatment with trypanocidal drugs was followed by decreased anti-B13 antibody levels, such assessment was unhelpful in differentiating the evolution of chronic chagasic heart disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) is an acute viral disease that causes important economy losses. Vaccines with new low-cost adjuvants that stimulate protective immune responses are needed and can be assayed in a mouse model to predict their effectiveness in cattle. Immunostimulant Particle Adjuvant (ISPA), also known as cage-like particle adjuvant, consisting of lipid boxes of dipalmitoyl-phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol, sterylamine, alpha-tocopherol, and QuilA saponin, was shown to enhance protection of a recombinant vaccine against Trypanosoma cruzi in a mouse model. Thus, in the present work, we studied the effects on the magnitude and type of immunity elicited in mice and cattle in response to a vaccine based on inactivated FMD virus (iFMDV) formulated with ISPA. It was demonstrated that iFMDV-ISPA induced protection in mice against challenge and elicited a specific antibody response in sera, characterized by a balanced Th1/Th2 profile. In cattle, the antibody titers reached corresponded to an expected percentage of protection (EPP) higher than 80%. EPP calculates the probability that livestock would be protected against a 10,000 bovine infectious doses challenge after vaccination. Moreover, in comparison with the non-adjuvanted iFMDV vaccine, iFMDV-ISPA elicited an increased specific T-cell response against the virus, including higher interferon gamma (IFNγ)+/CD8+ lymphocyte production in cattle. In this work, we report for first time that an inactivated FMDV serotype A vaccine adjuvanted with ISPA is capable of inducing protection against challenge in a murine model and of improving the specific immune responses against the virus in cattle., (Copyright © 2020 Bidart, Kornuta, Gammella, Gnazzo, Soria, Langellotti, Mongini, Galarza, Calvinho, Lupi, Quattrocchi, Marcipar and Zamorano.)