TY - JOUR
TI - Candida vaginitis: Virulence, host response and vaccine prospects
AU - De Bernardis, F.
AU - Graziani, S.
AU - Tirelli, F.
AU - Antonopoulou, S.
JO - Medical Mycology
PY - 2018
VL - 56
TODO - null
SP - S26-S31
PB - Oxford University Press
SN - 1369-3786, 1460-2709
TODO - 10.1093/mmy/myx139
TODO - antifungal agent;  aspartic proteinase;  recombinant secretory aspartyl proteinase 2;  unclassified drug;  virosome;  virosome vaccine;  virulence factor;  aspartic proteinase;  fungal protein;  fungus vaccine;  SAP2 protein, Candida, Candida albicans;  fungal virulence;  human;  immune response;  immunotherapy;  nonhuman;  Review;  vaccination;  vagina candidiasis;  animal;  disease model;  enzymology;  female;  host pathogen interaction;  immunology;  microbiology;  pathogenicity;  pathology;  vagina;  vagina candidiasis, Animals;  Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases;  Candida albicans;  Candidiasis, Vulvovaginal;  Disease Models, Animal;  Female;  Fungal Proteins;  Fungal Vaccines;  Host-Pathogen Interactions;  Vagina;  Virulence Factors
TODO - Vulvovaginal candidiasis is a common mucosal infection affecting a large proportion of women with some of them affected by recurrent often intractable forms of the disease. Thus, there is an increasing interest in understanding the pathogenesis of this disease. The aim of our work was to characterize, in animal models of vaginal candidiasis, the components of the host-fungus interaction at the mucosal level. The evidence of an immune response in the vaginal compartment was very encouraging to identify the proper targets for new strategies for vaccination or immunotherapy of vaginal candidiasis. Aspartyl-proteinase (Sap2), which is an important immunodominant antigens and virulence factors of C.albicans acting in mucosal infections, was assembled with virosomes and a vaccine PEV7 was obtained. The results obtained in the mouse model and in the clinical trial conducted by Pevion on women have evidenced that the vaccine PEV7, intravaginally administered, has an encouraging therapeutic potential for the treatment of recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis. This opens the way to a modality for anti-Candida protection at mucosal level. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The International Society for Human and Animal Mycology.
ER -