Tularemia is an ailment that comes from the Francisella tularensis bacteria which is incredibly fierce. This pathogen which possesses the capacity to live independently poses serious threats to the health of the general population. Our company offers a robust portfolio of vaccine and therapy development services tailored to address the complexities of tularemia.
Introduction to Tularemia
Tularemia is an infectious disease that is caused by a bacterium known as Francisella tularensis. It is considered a highly pathogenic organism due to its virulence and because it can be used as a bioweapon. Tularemia is a zoonotic infection because it can infect both human and a number of animal species, including rodents and lagomorphs. It can be spread by various routes which include direct contact with infected animals, bites by infected arthropods, inhalation of contaminated aerosols or eating or drinking contaminated food and water.
Fig.1 Waterborne form of tularemia. (Hennebique A., et al., 2019)
Over the last couple of years, regions where Tularemia is endemic have witnessed a rise in its incidence, as per the reports that were made available recently. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control reported over six hundred cases in Europe in 2020 alone, whilst America reported about 2000 cases from 2011 to 2019. Without any treatment, it can reach as high as thirty percent, especially if it's acute pneumonia type A which is the untreated case. This further goes to show the importance of having good vaccines and therapies.
Vaccine Development for Tularemia
Live Attenuated Vaccines
Live Attenuated Vaccines (LAVs) form an integral strategy in development of the tularemia vaccines. The vaccine makes use of an attenuated form of F. tularensis that is able to trigger an immune response without causing sickness. Studies done have shown that LAVs elicits good protection against the tularemia disease in animal models, thus indicating the promise of reatment to induce humoral and even cellular immunity.
Inactivated Vaccines
Inactivated vaccines are composed of inactive bacteria which can induce immune response, yet replication is rendered impossible. It has been established that F. tularensis may be inactivated using precise heat or chemical substances, however, such vaccines are still in preclinical research stages. While so, these may possess a lesser efficacy than other live attenuated variants. It is essential to ensure adequate Newcastle disease virus immunogenicity while developing the vaccine to non compromised safety.
Subunit Vaccines
Subunit vaccines, based on selected antigens of the causative bacterium, are been focused on in recent times in the pursuit ofnative vaccines for tularemia. Such vaccines can render a few targeted proteins with a strong immune response but not risks associated with whole-pathogen vaccines. For example, studies have shown that outer membrane proteins and proteases of virulence factors can be used as antigens.
DNA Vaccines
DNA vaccination is a novel concept which consists of the introduction of plasmid dnA of region encoding antigenic F. tularensis determinants into host cells that will lead to an immune response. Such approaches have been promising in preclinical studies with benefits such as stability and ability to establish both humoral and cellular immune responses. Nonetheless, more research is required to enhance targeting mechanisms together with evaluating the long term effectiveness of DNA vaccines in the prevention of tularemia.
Therapeutics Development for Tularemia
Antibiotic therapy is an essential component of the therapeutics for tularemia, which is the core treatment developed. In severe cases, gentamicin and streptomycin which are aminoglycosides are the preferred choice, while patients who suffer from moderate to mild cases respond well to tetracyclines and fluoroquinolones. One of the issues that still remain concerning tularemia is the variability of the outcome for the patients particularly, considering how complicated the treatment may be for some or how late into the disease they are treated. Though research into improving the treatment continues and new combinations or regimens are being developed that promise better outcomes.
Our company provides professional, one-stop tularemia drug and therapy development services to help global pharmaceutical companies. You can click on the link below to learn more.
Our Services
Our firm specializes in the detailing and across encompassing needs towards drivingthe development of vaccines and othertherapeutics. These include a robust know-how in the discovery as well as antigen validation of cutting edge technology alongside integration of preclinical safety and efficacy studies.
- Mouse (AKR/J, BALB/c and C57BL/6) Infection Models
- Rat Models
- Rabbit Models
- Guinea Pig Models
- Primate Models
Route of infections: intraperitoneal, intradermal, subcutaneous, and aerosol
Our organization strives to shorten the developmental period while providing higher quality therapeutics for tularemia, by capitalizing on the latest available technologies and methodologies. In case my team's services resonate with your goals, don't hesitate to reach out.
References
- Hennebique, Aurélie, Sandrine Boisset, and Max Maurin. "Tularemia as a waterborne disease: a review." Emerging microbes & infections 8.1 (2019): 1027-1042.
- Sunagar, Raju, et al. "Tularemia vaccine development: paralysis or progress?." Vaccine: development and therapy (2016): 9-23.
- Maurin, Max, et al. "Tularemia treatment: experimental and clinical data." Frontiers in Microbiology 14 (2024): 1348323.
All of our services and products are intended for preclinical research use
only and cannot be used to diagnose, treat or manage patients.
