Infection with pinworm, also called enterobiasis, is one of the most frequent helminth infections caused by the nematode parasite Enterobius vermicularis. Our company specializes in providing a wide range of services dedicated to the development of vaccines and therapeutics for addressing pinworm infestations.
Introduction to Pinworm Infection
The pinworm infection is caused by the nematode parasite Enterobius vermicularis, which mainly affects children but individuals of any age can be infected. The life cycle of a pinworm is incredibly basic yet incredibly effective, accounting to its high infection rate, especially in settings that are unsanitary and overly populated. The adult pinworms live in the human colon, with gravid females moving towards the anal area during the night time to lay their eggs. This behavior, combined with the nighttime activity of pinworms is responsible for the distribution of infections since it enables the pinworms to lay eggs during periods of activity.
Fig.1 A microscopic specimen of an adult Enterobius vermicularis. (Wendt S., et al., 2019)
Vaccine Development for Pinworm Infection
Subunit vaccines work by utilizing targeted immune antigens for a specific immune response to be triggered. New findings have pointed out some immunogenic protein bands 21 kDa, 66 kDa, and 151 kDa from E. vermicularis eggs that could serve as subunit vaccine candidates. These proteins could be manufactured and isolated so that a vaccine could be developed which, while harnessing the power of the host’s adaptive immune system, has no potential to induce disease.
DNA vaccines are a new approach whereby a plasmid DNA containing specific E. vermicularis antigens is put into the host. Although there are no licenses for DNA vaccines against pinworm, research is currently being done to maximize the functional and pathological studies of immunogenic sequences and test their safety and efficacy in preclinical and clinical trials. The adaptability of this approach makes it an interesting prospect in the future of vaccine development.
Therapeutics Development for Pinworm Infection
The main form of therapeutics applied for pinworm infection is the use of the anthelmintics mebendazole or pyrantel pamoate. This class of medicines works bу suppressing the metabolism of the worms, which eventually leads to elimination from the host. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of such therapeutics is very often compromised by reinfection and autoinfection as people tend to ingest eggs from contaminated surfaces or perhaps their own hands.
Further studies are in progress to design better anthelmintics with broader scope of action. For instance, new compounds that act on the neurophysiology of the pinworm may offer new therapeutic solutions and surpass the restrictions of existing therapeutics.
Our Services
As part of our services for the development of vaccines, we work on antigen research, immunoassays, and undertake preclinical studies. The combination of these three disciplines allows us to develop methodologies which produc e effective and safe vaccines.
In addition to vaccine development, we seek to develop new therapeutics. Our talented team uses a range of methods from rational drug design to high-throughput screening to identify drug leads and modify their bioactivity.
- Aspiculuris tetraptera Infection Models
- Syphacia obvelata Infection Models
- Syphacia muris Infection Models
- Enterobius vermicularis Infection Models
- Passafurus ambiguus Infection Models
We conduct rigorous in vitro and in vivo studies to evaluate the effectiveness of our vaccine and drug candidates. These studies include assessments of parasite burden, host immune response, and potential side effects. If you are interested in our services, please feel free to contact us.
References
- Wendt Sebastian, et al. "The diagnosis and treatment of pinworm infection." Deutsches Ärzteblatt International 116.13 (2019): 213.
- De Kostha, YBN Sanduni, et al. "Characterization of antigens of Enterobius vermicularis (pinworm) eggs." Scientific Reports 12.1 (2022): 14414.
All of our services and products are intended for preclinical research use
only and cannot be used to diagnose, treat or manage patients.
