Trivalent outer membrane vesicles-based combination vaccine candidate induces protective immunity against Campylobacter and invasive non-typhoidal Salmonella in adult mice

Campylobacter and non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) are among the most common causative agents of gastroenteritis worldwide. As of now, no single combination licensed vaccine is available for public health use against both NTS and Campylobacter species. Outer-membrane vesicles (OMVs) are nanoscale proteoliposomes released from the surface of gram-negative bacteria during log phase and harbor a variety of immunogenic proteins. Based on epidemiology of infections, we formulated a novel trivalent outer membrane vesicles (TOMVs)-based vaccine candidate against Campylobacter jejuni (CJ), Salmonella Typhimurium (ST) and Salmonella Enteritidis (SE). Isolated OMVs from CJ, ST and SE were combined in equal ratios for formulation of TOMVs and 5 µg of the developed vaccine candidate was used for intraperitoneal immunization of adult BALB/c mice. Immunization with TOMVs significantly activated both the humoral and cellular arm of adaptive immune response. Robust bactericidal effect was elicited by TOMVs immunized adult mice sera. TOMVs immunization induced long-term protective efficacy against CJ, ST and SE infections in mice. The study illustrates the ability of TOMVs-based combination immunogen in eliciting broad-spectrum protective immunity against prevalent Campylobacter and NTS pathogens. According to the findings, TOMVs can work as a potent combination-based acellular vaccine candidate for amelioration of Campylobacter and NTS-mediated gastroenteritis.