Salmonella vaccines: lessons from the mouse model or bad teaching?

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Immunology
• Vaccinology

Background:

• Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovars like Typhi, Paratyphi, Typhimurium, and Enteritidis cause substantial global disease burden.
• Diseases include enteric fever, gastroenteritis, and invasive non-typhoidal salmonellosis (iNTS).
• Existing vaccines target S. Typhi, but increased iNTS cases necessitate new vaccines for S. Typhimurium and S. Enteritidis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the development of vaccines against Salmonella serovars.
• To highlight the role of the murine model in understanding immune responses.
• To discuss advances in pathogenesis and their contribution to novel immunogen development.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on Salmonella vaccines and murine models.
• Analysis of immune responses in murine models of typhoid fever.
• Consideration of pathogenomic and advanced animal model studies.

Main Results:

• The murine model, despite limitations, has revealed complex innate and adaptive immune responses to Salmonella infection.
• Antibody efficacy differs between human and murine models for S. Typhi and S. Typhimurium.
• S. Typhimurium lacks the Vi antigen crucial for protective immunity against typhoid fever.

Conclusions:

• Understanding complex immune responses in murine models is key for developing new Salmonella vaccines.
• Advances in understanding pathogenesis and improved animal models will aid in creating novel immunogens.
• Further research is needed to develop effective vaccines against prevalent iNTS-causing Salmonella serovars.