Blocking Fasciola hepatica's energy metabolism – a pilot study of vaccine potential of a novel gene – phosphoglycerate kinase

Fasciola hepatica infections cause huge economic losses to livestock production and are a serious problem in human and veterinary medicine. The main difficulty in the control of infections is progressing drug resistance. Moreover, pharmacological therapy is expensive and harmful for the environment. The best way of prophylaxis against infections seems to be vaccination. A new generation of vaccines could be the best possible way of controlling fasciolosis. This paper is focused on first vaccination trials based on a new vaccine candidate antigen, F. hepatica phosphoglycerate kinase (FhPGK) performed on a rat model. We obtained protection levels ranging from 0% to 69% depending on the way of delivery and form of vaccine.