More than 90 nations throughout the world have malaria, which results in 241 million infections and an estimated 627,000 fatalities annually. A very effective vaccine is still elusive, despite the fact that vaccinations are one intervention that could help eradicate this devastating disease. A new generation of malaria vaccines may result from recent technological developments in vaccine research, such as the mRNA vaccines for SARS and CoV2.
Two mRNA vaccine candidates have now been created by a research team at George Washington University that are highly successful in lowering malaria infection and transmission. The scientists also discovered that the two experimental vaccinations, whether administered singly or in combination, triggered a potent immune response. The study was released today in npj Vaccines, a Nature Portfolio open-access scholarly publication.
Nirbhay Kumar, a professor of global health at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, said, “Malaria elimination would not happen fast, but such vaccinations might potentially remove malaria from many regions of the world.” “The mRNA vaccination technique has the potential to completely transform the game.” “As a result of the technology’s success in combating COVID, we modified it for this study and used it to create tools to fight malaria.”
One of the four parasite species that cause malaria and are the most lethal to humans, Plasmodium falciparum, was the main focus of Kumar and the study group. P. falciparum and P. vivax, which are spread via the bite of the Anopheles mosquito, account for more than 90% of all malaria infections and 95% of all malaria deaths worldwide. Although half of the world’s population is in danger of getting this terrible disease, sub-Saharan Africa sees the majority of cases and deaths. Two mRNA vaccines were created by Kumar’s team to interfere with various stages of the parasite’s life cycle.
A protein that aids the parasites’ movement through the body and invasion of the liver was the target of an mRNA vaccination that the researchers administered to one group of mice. With a vaccine that targets a protein that aids parasite reproduction in a mosquito’s midgut, they inoculated a different set of mice. After that, the inoculated mice were exposed to the parasite that causes illness, and the ability of the vaccine-induced antibodies to stop the spread of malaria was assessed.
According to the study, both vaccines significantly decreased infection in both the host and the mosquito vector by eliciting a strong immune response in the mice. According to the researchers, a crucial step in stopping the spread of malaria was taken when protective antibodies were present during the transmission of parasites to healthy mosquitoes.
According to Kumar, “These vaccines were exceedingly successful at avoiding illness, and they virtually eliminated transmission potential.”
Additionally, the scientists co-vaccinated mice with both vaccines, and they discovered that this effectively decreased infection and transmission without impairing the immune response.
Kumar and the team conducted the experiment again using DNA plasmids to compare the performance of the mRNA vaccines to that of other nucleic acid-based vaccine platforms. They discovered that mRNA vaccinations were far more effective at eliciting an immunological response than DNA-based immunizations.
In order to create vaccines that can be used safely in humans, the team wants to advance the vaccines through future research, including trials using nonhuman primate models.
“One of the holy grails of malaria vaccine development is to have a vaccination combination that can successfully interrupt many aspects of the malaria parasite’s life cycle,” Kumar added. With the ultimate goal of curing the condition, “this work moves us one step closer to developing vaccinations that can be used safely in humans to prevent illness and save lives.”
The study, which received funding from the National Institutes of Health, was released in the NPJ Vaccines issue of December 1. The group, which has submitted a patent application, created the vaccinations in collaboration with researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and other partners.
