A Replication-Limited Recombinant Mycobacterium bovis BCG vaccine against tuberculosis designed for human immunodeficiency virus-positive persons is safer and more efficacious than BCG.

ABSTRACT: Tuberculosis is the leading cause of death in AIDS patients, yet the current tuberculosis vaccine, Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), is contraindicated for immunocompromised individuals, including human immunodeficiency virus-positive persons, because it can cause disseminated disease; moreover, its efficacy is suboptimal. To address these problems, we have engineered BCG mutants that grow normally in vitro in the presence of a supplement, are preloadable with supplement to allow limited growth in vivo, and express the highly immunoprotective Mycobacterium tuberculosis 30-kDa major secretory protein. The limited replication in vivo renders these vaccines safer than BCG in SCID mice yet is sufficient to induce potent cell-mediated and protective immunity in the outbred gui

SUBMITTER: Tullius MV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2573348 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature