Recombinant viruses as vaccines against viral diseases.

Vaccine approaches to infectious diseases are widely applied and appreciated. Amongst them, vectors based on recombinant viruses have shown great promise and play an important role in the development of new vaccines. Many viruses have been investigated for their ability to express proteins from foreign pathogens and induce specific immunological responses against these antigens in vivo. Generally, gene-based vaccines can stimulate potent humoral and cellular immune responses and viral vectors might be an effective strategy for both the delivery of antigen-encoding genes and the facilitation and enhancement of antigen presentation. In order to be utilized as a vaccine carrier, the ideal viral vector should be safe and enable efficient presentation of required pathogen-specific antigens to the immune system. It should also exhibit low intrinsic immunogenicity to allow for its re-administration in order to boost relevant specific immune responses. Furthermore, the vector system must meet criteria that enable its production on a large-scale basis. Several viral vaccine vectors have thus emerged to date, all of them having relative advantages and limits depending on the proposed application, and thus far none of them have proven to be ideal vaccine carriers. In this review we describe the potential, as well as some of the foreseeable obstacles associated with viral vaccine vectors and their use in preventive medicine.

Preservation of function in experimental renal disease by dietary restriction of phosphate.

We sought to determine the importance of calcium phosphate deposition in the functional deterioration of damaged or diseased kidneys. Using the remnant-kidney model in rats, we found that dietary phosphate restriction prevented proteinuria, renal calcification, histologic changes, functional deterioration and death in uremia. Histologic examination of the remnant kidney in the nonrestricted animals showed calcium and phosphorus deposits in the cortical tubular cells, basement membranes and interstitium. A similar degree and pattern of calcification have been found in preliminary studies of human end-stage kidneys. Our results suggest that the calcification produced by the altered phosphorus metabolism present in the uremic state incites an inflammatory and fibrotic reaction leading to destruction of the remnant kidney. Phosphate restriction prevents this response in the remnant kidney. The potential applicability of these findings to other forms of experimental renal disease and to clinical uremia remains to be explored.

Preservation of renal function in experimental glomerulonephritis.

To evaluate the protective effect of dietary phosphorus restriction in an immunologic model of experimental renal disease, we randomized 24 Sprague-Dawley rats with established nephrotoxic serum nephritis into two groups. Group A animals (N = 13) were fed a diet with a normal phosphorus content (0.5% phosphorus), and group B animals (N = 11) received an identical diet low in phosphorus (0.04% phosphorus). Over the ensuing 133 days, group A rats developed progressive renal failure and had a mean serum creatinine concentration of 3.0 +/- 0.5 mg/dl at the time of death or completion of the study. In contrast, group B animals maintained near normal renal function and had a final mean serum creatinine concentration of 0.93 + 0.2 mg/dl (P < 0.001). Survival was markedly improved in group B animals (P < 0.001). Histologic damage was diminished greatly in group B animals by both light and electron microscopy; immunofluorescence was positive in all animals. Group A animals had increased kidney calcium concentration (30 +/- 6 mmoles/kg) when compared to group B animals (18 +/- 1 mmoles/kg) and animals with normal kidneys (13 +/- 1 nmoles/kg, P< 0.001). Conclusion. Dietary restriction of phosphorus retards functional deterioration and reduces histologic damage in experimental immunologic renal disease. The mechanism for this protective effect has not been elucidated.

Renal toxicity of phosphate in rats.

To evaluate the mechanism by which phosphate induces renal injury, we placed uninephrectomized, partially nephrectomized, and intact rats on dietary phosphorus intakes varying between 0.5 and 2% for 18 weeks. None of the animals on a normal phosphorus intake (0.5%) had any abnormalities. Four out of six intact animals on a 1% phosphorus diet had kidney calcium concentrations within the normal range, and only one showed any histologic changes. In contrast, all but one partial and uninephrectomized animals on a 1% phosphorus diet had increased kidney calcium content concentration, and five of the six studied had histologic changes. The degree of calcification and histologic changes in the uninephrectomized animals on a 1% phosphorus diet was similar to that found in the intact animals on a 2% phosphorus diet. Animals on a 3% phosphorus diet plus disodium ethane-1-hydroxy-1-1-diphosphonate (EHDP) had significantly less calcification and histologic changes than did animals on a similar diet without EHDP. Conclusion. As renal functional mass is reduced, the nephrotoxicity of phosporus is greatly enhanced. Phosphorus-induced renal injury is mediated through calcium phosphate deposition in the kidney. This results from intrarenal caused, because the kidney calcification can be related to phosphate excreted per functional unit rather than plasma phosphate concentrations.

Recombinant viruses as vaccines against viral diseases

Vaccine approaches to infectious diseases are widely applied and appreciated. Amongst them, vectors based on recombinant viruses have shown great promise and play an important role in the development of new vaccines. Many viruses have been investigated for their ability to express proteins from foreign pathogens and induce specific immunological responses against these antigens in vivo. Generally, gene-based vaccines can stimulate potent humoral and cellular immune responses and viral vectors might be an effective strategy for both the delivery of antigen-encoding genes and the facilitation and enhancement of antigen presentation. In order to be utilized as a vaccine carrier, the ideal viral vector should be safe and enable efficient presentation of required pathogen-specific antigens to the immune system. It should also exhibit low intrinsic immunogenicity to allow for its re-administration in order to boost relevant specific immune responses. Furthermore, the vector system must meet criteria that enable its production on a large-scale basis. Several viral vaccine vectors have thus emerged to date, all of them having relative advantages and limits depending on the proposed application, and thus far none of them have proven to be ideal vaccine carriers. In this review we describe the potential, as well as some of the foreseeable obstacles associated with viral vaccine vectors and their use in preventive medicine.