Nocardiosis is an infectious disease with significant implications for global health, particularly among immunocompromised individuals. At our company, we are dedicated to advancing the fight against nocardiosis through our comprehensive vaccine and therapy development services.
Introduction to Nocardiosis
Caused by bacteria of the genus Nocardia, Nocardiosis can manifest as pulmonary nocardiosis, affecting the lungs, or as systemic nocardiosis, impacting the entire body. The high mortality rates associated with nocardiosis, even with treatment, underscore the urgency for effective vaccines and therapies.
Nocardia species are Gram-positive, filamentous bacteria commonly found in soil and other environmental sources. The bacteria are known to enter the human body through inhalation or direct inoculation, often leading to a range of manifestations. Immunocompromised hosts, such as organ transplant recipients, cancer patients, and individuals with HIV, are particularly susceptible to developing nocardiosis.
Fig.1 Microbiological diagnosis of nocardiosis. (Lafont E., et al., 2020)
Vaccine Development for Nocardiosis
Reverse Vaccinology
Recent advancements in reverse vaccinology, combined with immunoinformatic, have paved the way for a new approach to vaccine development. By analyzing the entire genome sequence of Nocardia species, researchers can identify potential antigens that can be used to construct a multi-epitope vaccine. This method allows for a comprehensive analysis of all protein antigens expressed by the pathogen, enhancing the likelihood of identifying effective vaccine candidates.
Multi-epitope Vaccine
A multi-epitope vaccine design involves the selection of epitopes from various proteins of the pathogen that are essential, virulent, or associated with resistance. These epitopes are then fused with appropriate adjuvants and linkers to construct the vaccine. The process requires rigorous evaluation of the immunogenicity, safety, and efficacy of the vaccine candidate through molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulation, and immune simulation.
Therapeutics Development for Nocardiosis
The mainstay of current therapeutic is Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX), which has demonstrated efficacy in both monotherapy for mild infections and as part of multidrug regimens for severe cases. However, the emergence of antibiotic resistance and the need for alternative therapies has spurred ongoing research and innovation.
Linezolid has emerged as a potential alternative to TMP-SMX, offering a nearly universal susceptibility to Nocardia. Imipenem, a carbapenem antibiotic, is another drug under scrutiny for its potential role in nocardiosis therapeutics. Our company provides the development of innovative drugs and therapies for nocardiosis. You can click on the link below to learn about our one-stop solution.
Our Services
By leveraging our extensive expertise and state-of-the-art facilities, we are committed to providing specialist nocardiosis vaccine and therapeutic development services to inform and accelerate the development of innovative solutions to combat nocardiosis.
- Acute Lethality Models: intraperitoneal (ip) injection of a high dose
- Chronic Infection Models: Swiss white mice and BALB/c mice
- Customized Animal Model Development
In addition to our vaccine and therapy development capabilities, our company also offers comprehensive preclinical research services to support the advancement of nocardiosis-related projects. If you are interested in our services, please feel free to contact us.
References
- Lafont Emmanuel, et al. "Invasive nocardiosis: disease presentation, diagnosis and treatment–old questions, new answers?." Infection and drug resistance (2020): 4601-4613.
- Zhu, Fei, et al. "Design of a multi-epitope vaccine against six Nocardia species based on reverse vaccinology combined with immunoinformatics." Frontiers in Immunology 14 (2023): 1100188.
All of our services and products are intended for preclinical research use
only and cannot be used to diagnose, treat or manage patients.
