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Vaccination with FimA from Streptococcus parasanguis protects rats from endocarditis caused by other viridans

Todd Kitten1, Cindy L Munro, Aijuan Wang

  • 1The Philips Institute of Oral and Craniofacial Molecular Biology, Department of Adult Health Nursing, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23298, USA. tkitten@vcu.edu

Infection and Immunity
|December 19, 2001
PubMed

Insights

Immunizing with the FimA protein from Streptococcus parasanguis protects against endocarditis. Antibodies generated by FimA vaccination also cross-react with and protect against other oral streptococci species.

Area of Science:

  • Oral microbiology
  • Vaccinology
  • Infectious diseases

Background:

  • The FimA protein of Streptococcus parasanguis is a known virulence factor in experimental endocarditis.
  • Oral streptococci are the primary cause of native valve endocarditis.
  • FimA-like proteins are common among oral streptococci.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the protective efficacy of FimA vaccination against challenge by various oral streptococcal species.
  • To determine if FimA can serve as a broad-spectrum vaccinogen for preventing infective endocarditis.

Main Methods:

  • Rats were immunized with the FimA protein.
  • Vaccinated rats were challenged with different species of oral streptococci.
  • Antibody cross-reactivity and protective effects were evaluated.

Main Results:

  • FimA vaccination induced antibodies that cross-reacted with Streptococcus mitis, Streptococcus mutans, and Streptococcus salivarius.
  • Protection was observed against challenge by these homologous and heterologous oral streptococcal species.
  • FimA demonstrated efficacy as a vaccinogen against multiple oral streptococci.

Conclusions:

  • FimA vaccination provides protection against Streptococcus parasanguis and cross-protection against other key oral streptococci.
  • FimA shows significant potential as a vaccinogen for controlling infective endocarditis caused by a range of oral streptococci.

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