Onchocerca volvulus: The Road from Basic Biology to a Vaccine

• Published in: Trends in parasitology Vol. 34; no. 1; pp. 64 - 79
• Main Authors: Lustigman, Sara, Makepeace, Benjamin L., Klei, Thomas R., Babayan, Simon A., Hotez, Peter, Abraham, David, Bottazzi, Maria Elena
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2018
• Subjects: Animals; Antiparasitic Agents - pharmacology; Antiparasitic Agents - standards; Antiparasitic Agents - therapeutic use; Drug Resistance; elimination; Humans; Onchocerca volvulus; Onchocerca volvulus - drug effects; Onchocerciasis, Ocular - drug therapy; Onchocerciasis, Ocular - immunology; Onchocerciasis, Ocular - prevention & control; Onchocerciasis, Ocular - transmission; vaccine; vaccine candidates; Vaccines; Onchocerca volvulus; vaccine; vaccine candidates; elimination
• ISSN: 1471-4922; 1471-5007
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2017.08.011

Human onchocerciasis – commonly known as river blindness – is one of the most devastating yet neglected tropical diseases, leaving many millions in sub-Saharan Africa blind and/or with chronic disabilities. Attempts to eliminate onchocerciasis, primarily through the mass drug administration of ivermectin, remains challenging and has been heightened by the recent news that drug-resistant parasites are developing in some populations after years of drug treatment. Needed, and needed now, in the fight to eliminate onchocerciasis are new tools, such as preventive and therapeutic vaccines. This review summarizes the progress made to advance the onchocerciasis vaccine from the research laboratory into the clinic. It remains unlikely that onchocerciasis can be eliminated entirely through ivermectin mass treatments. In 2015 an international consortium launched a new global initiative, known as TOVA – The Onchocerciasis Vaccine for Africa – with the goal of evaluating and pursuing vaccine development as a complementary control tool. A rational design for the antigen discovery and selection process – before embarking into advanced vaccine development of the onchocerciasis vaccine – resulted in the identification of two recombinant proteins – Ov-103 and Ov-RAL-2 – that individually or in combination induced significant protection against infection.