Chicken albumin (Gal d 5) is a partially heat-labile allergen that may cause both respiratory and food-allergy symptoms in patients with the bird-egg syndrome.

The ingestion of 100 lyophilized A. simplex larvae, or its equivalent in antigen, does not induce clinical symptoms in individuals with a clinical history and laboratory findings of hypersensitivity to A. simplex. The data suggest that only the ingestion of live larvae may be capable of inducing allergic manifestations.

Background: Anisakis simplex is a fish parasite that, when accidentally ingested by humans, may cause allergic reactions in sensitized individuals. The main objectives of our study were to: (1) construct a cDNA expression library of A. simplex; (2) identify clones producing specific IgE binding protein antigens, and (3) produce and purify the protein/s codified by the isolated clones produced in Escherichia coli. Methods: An expression cDNA library from the third stage larvae (L3) of A. simplex was constructed. This library was first screened with a rabbit anti A. simplex hyperimmune serum. The positive clones, identified using the rabbit serum, were rescreened with a pool of human sera containing high titers of IgE antibodies against A. simplex. Results: Two positive clones were isolated carrying the genes which codify for paramyosin. The paramyosin protein was produced in E. coli and purified. The partial sequence of a second paramyosin gene was also identified. The frequency of specific IgE binding to the recombinant and native forms of paramyosin using the sera of 26 A. simplex-sensitive individuals was 23 and 88%, respectively. Both paramyosins were able to inhibit 11% of the specific IgE binding to a total extract. Conclusions: We describe the primary structure of a paramyosin of A. simplex. It can be considered as an allergen based on its IgE binding capacity. We suggest that the recombinant protein does not maintain the complete allergenic properties of the native paramyosin, considering its lower IgE binding capacity of the recombinant protein. However, both proteins have the same specific IgE inhibition capacity. The recombinant protein can be produced in large quantities in E. coli. We propose the term Ani s 2 for this allergen.

Canine leishmaniosis is a zoonotic disease caused by Leishmania infantum. Extensive research is currently ongoing to develop safe and effective vaccines to protect from disease development. The European Commission has granted a marketing authorization for LetiFend®, a new vaccine containing recombinant Protein Q. The efficacy of LetiFend® vaccination in a large-scale dog population of both sexes, different breeds and ages in endemic areas is reported in this multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled field trial. Dogs (n = 549) living in France and Spain were randomly selected to receive a single subcutaneous dose of LetiFend® or placebo per year, and were naturally exposed to two L. infantum transmission seasons. Clinical examinations, blood and lymphoid organ sampling to evaluate serological, parasitological and disease status of the dogs were performed at different time points during the study. LetiFend® was very well tolerated and clearly reduced the incidence of clinical signs related to leishmaniosis. The number of confirmed cases of leishmaniosis was statistically significantly lower in the vaccine group. The number of dogs with parasites was close to be significantly reduced in the vaccine group (p = 0.0564). Re-vaccination of seropositive dogs demonstrated to be safe and not to worsen the course of the disease. The likelihood that a dog vaccinated with LetiFend® develops a confirmed case or clinical signs of leishmaniosis in areas with high pressure is, respectively, 5 and 9.8 time less than that for an unvaccinated dog. Thus, the overall efficacy of the LetiFend® vaccine in the prevention of confirmed cases of leishmaniosis in endemic areas with high disease pressure was shown to be 72%. In conclusion, this field trial demonstrates that LetiFend® is a novel, safe and effective vaccine for the active immunization of non-infected dogs from 6 months of age in reducing the risk of developing clinical leishmaniosis after natural infection with Leishmania infantum.

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