Vaccines for Clostridium difficile
Although standard treatment for diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis caused by C. difficile is treated with antibiotics, the high recurrence rate of C. difficile infection (CDI) remains a major problem. Active vaccination is generally accepted as a logical and cost-effective approach to prevent CDI. Creative Biolabs has advanced vaccine technology platform and provides a rapid means to afford protection from C. difficile.
Clostridium difficile
Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is a Gram-positive, anaerobic spore-forming bacterium that is the most common cause of nosocomial antibiotic-associated diarrhea and the etiologic agent of pseudomembranous colitis with about 453,000 cases and 29,000 deaths yearly in the U.S. The gut microbiota ecological disorder enables C. difficile to colonize the intestinal tract. C. difficile infection (CDI) is transmitted through spores. C. difficile toxins (TcdA and TcdB) are the major virulent factors and is a global problem, particularly affecting patients in hospitals and long-term healthcare facilities.
Vaccines for Clostridium difficile
- Vaccines Targeting Toxins or Colonization Factors
- Vaccines Targeting Other Surface Components
- Vaccines Targeting Non-toxigenic Strains
After the antibiotic destroys the normal intestinal flora, C. difficile colonizes the intestine by cell surface adhesions, producing toxins (TcdA and TcdB), leading to the appearance of disease symptoms such as diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis. Significant efforts have been devoted to developing vaccines targeting both toxins through parenteral immunization routes. Interfering with C. difficile colonization by blocking cell adhesion with antibodies that target cell surface adhesins may be an effective strategy against CDI. Vaccines targeting toxins or colonization factors have been shown to protect against CDI in animal models. Moreover, targeting colonization factors can prevent C. difficile colonization, growth and symptomatic infection, thus limiting the spread of bacteria in the environment. Several candidate vaccines for colonization factors have shown promising results, for example, a highly immunogenic flagellin has a unique pathogen-associated molecular pattern associated with toll-like receptor-5 (TLR-5) recognition.
In addition to toxins, several surface components have been characterized as colonization factors and have been shown to be immunogenic. Regarding passive immunization, the first strategy uses antisera against whole bacteria to prevent infection. Then, surface components such as the flagellin and the S-layer proteins can be used for immunization and passive transfer of antibodies is protective in animal models. In the case of active immunization, surface components of bacterial extracts, spore proteins and vegetative cells such as cell wall proteins, flagellin and polysaccharides are used as vaccine targets. Vaccination by parenteral and mucosal immunization pathways lays the foundation for the development of new vaccines.
In vitro experiments have shown that the membrane fraction of non-toxigenic C. difficile (ntCDMF) is effective as a vaccine antigen. The serum and intestinal fluid of mice immunized with ntCDMF can prevent the adhesion of C. difficile to human colonic epithelial Caco-2 cells, indicating its potential as a vaccine candidate for C. difficile, which may be a less costly alternative to purified adhesins.
Our Clostridium difficile Vaccine Development Services
- Cost-effective
- Multiple routes of administration
- Safely and efficiently
There are current measures for the prevention and treatment of C. difficile, where vaccination plays an increasingly important role in the prevention of C. difficile. Creative Biolabs has been developing new vaccines for many years, providing a wide range of vaccines to customers around the world that produce high titers of neutralizing antibodies with high protection against C. difficile. If you are interested, please feel free to contact us.
All of our products can only be used for research purposes. These vaccine ingredients CANNOT be used directly on humans or animals.
