New Vaccine Shows Promise As Stronger Weapon Against Both Tuberculosis and Leprosy

In many parts of the world, leprosy and tuberculosis live side-by-side. Worldwide there are approximately 233,000 new cases of leprosy per year, with nearly all of them occurring where tuberculosis is endemic. The currently available century-old vaccine Bacille Calmette-Guerin, or BCG, provides only partial protection against both tuberculosis and leprosy, so a more potent vaccine is needed to combat both diseases. UCLA-led research may have found a stronger weapon against both diseases. In a study published in the September 2014 issue of Infection and Immunity, the researchers found that rBCG30, a recombinant variant of BCG that overexpresses a highly abundant 30 kDa protein of the tuberculosis bacterium known as Antigen 85B, is superior to BCG in protecting against tuberculosis in animal models, and also cross protects against leprosy. In addition, they found that boosting rBCG30 with the Antigen 85B protein, a protein also expressed by the leprosy bacillus, provides considerably stronger protection against leprosy. "This is the first study demonstrating that an improved vaccine against tuberculosis also offers cross-protection against Mycobacterium leprae (image), the causative agent of leprosy," said Dr. Marcus A. Horwitz, professor of medicine and microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, and the study's senior author. "That means that this vaccine has promise for better protecting against both major diseases at the same time. It is also the first study demonstrating that boosting a recombinant BCG vaccine further improves cross-protection against leprosy," he added. In one experiment, mice were immunized with either rBCG30 or the old BCG vaccine, or they were given a salt solution.