Findings For Bovine Trichomoniasis Vaccine May Be Applicable To Humans.(Brief Article)

2001 JUL 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) --

by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Both systemic and local immunization of cows with an antigen to bovine trichomoniasis protected them from trichomonads and be useful against other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in humans, say researchers working in California.

"Principles for immune protection of the female genital tract derived from studies of bovine trichomoniasis may be generally applicable to human trichomoniasis and other sexually transmitted diseases," proposed L.B. Corbeil and associates, who pointed out that experimental and commercially available vaccines for bovine trichomoniasis have been well studied.

They developed a bovine model of trichomoniasis to study the mechanisms of immunoprophylaxis with an immuno-affinity purified antigen. Trichomonads were cleared from the genital tract of immunized cows significantly faster than unimmunized cows, they reported, and predominant immunoglobulin A (IgA) or IgG responses in uterine and vaginal secretions were found to be equally protective.

The prime-boost method induced IgA responses when boosters were given via either vaginal or nasal mucosa, reported Corbeil and coworkers, and formed lymphoid aggregates in genital mucosa that could not be found in unimmunized animals ("Bovine trichomoniasis as a model for development of vaccines against ...