Aim: To analyze the epitopes derived from protective and TB pathologic antigen with respect to known protective and susceptible Class I HLA alleles. Method: The sequences of protective and susceptible antigens were first analyzed using bioinformatic tool CTLpred. The top scoring three epitopes from this were then used to analyse their Class I HLA restriction employing the Propred matrix. Result...

BACKGROUND Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), including those treated with biologics, are at increased risk of some vaccine-preventable infections. We evaluated the antibody response to standard 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) and the 2011-2012 trivalent seasonal influenza vaccine in adults with RA receiving subcutaneous (SC) abatacept and background disease-modifyi...

The relatively unrelated spotted fever group rickettsia Rickettsia rhipicephali conferred on guinea pigs protective immunity against challenge with virulent R. rickettsii. Immunity was conferred at all doses of R. rhipicephali used in the study. Because of the serologic unrelatedness of these two rickettsiae, determined by the use of microimmunofluorescence and other serological assays, further...

The development of a subunit vaccine for smallpox represents a potential strategy to avoid the safety concerns associated with replication-competent vaccinia virus. Preclinical studies to date with subunit smallpox vaccine candidates, however, have been limited by incomplete information regarding protective antigens and the requirement for multiple boost immunizations to afford protective immun...

Helicobacter pylori has infected more than half of the world's population, causing gastritis, gastric ulcers, gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma and gastric cancer. The oral recombinant Helicobacter pylori vaccine currently used has made great progress in addressing this problem, however, its efficacy and longevity still need to be improved. Th1 and Th17 cells play essential rol...

Protective immunizat ion of the vertebrate host against malar ia can operate against either of two distinct stages of the parasite's life cycle. The sporozoite forms, which develop in the salivary glands of the infected mosquito, are immunogenic in the vertebrate host (1) and possess a major surface antigen against which a protective immune response can be elicited (2, 3). The asexual blood sta...

Protective immunizat ion of the vertebrate host against malar ia can operate against either of two distinct stages of the parasite's life cycle. The sporozoite forms, which develop in the salivary glands of the infected mosquito, are immunogenic in the vertebrate host (1) and possess a major surface antigen against which a protective immune response can be elicited (2, 3). The asexual blood sta...

Cryptosporidium parvum, an Apicomplexan parasite of gastrointestinal epithelial cells, causes severe disease in persons with AIDS and is a common cause of self-limited diarrhea in children, animal handlers, and residents of developing countries. No approved therapy exists; in research studies, however, hyperimmune bovine colostrum raised to Cryptosporidium oocysts and sporozoites has eradicated...