Towards developing a vaccine for rheumatic heart disease
File(s)
Author(s)
Gandhi, GD
Krishnamoorthy, N
Motal, UMA
Yacoub, M
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is the most serious manifestations of rheumatic fever, which is caused by group A Streptococcus (GAS or Streptococcus pyogenes) infection. RHD is an auto immune sequelae of GAS pharyngitis, rather than the direct bacterial infection of the heart, which leads to chronic heart valve damage. Although antibiotics like penicillin are effective against GAS infection, improper medical care such as poor patient compliance, overcrowding, poverty, and repeated exposure to GAS, leads to acute rheumatic fever and RHD. Thus, efforts have been put forth towards developing a vaccine. However, a potential global vaccine is yet to be identified due to the widespread diversity of S. pyogenes strains and cross reactivity of streptococcal proteins with host tissues. In this review, we discuss the available vaccine targets of S. pyogenes and the significance of in silico approaches in designing a vaccine for RHD.
Date Issued
2017-03-31
Date Acceptance
2016-11-26
Citation
Global Cardiology Science & Practice, 2017, 2017 (1)
ISSN
2305-7823
Publisher
Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Journals
Journal / Book Title
Global Cardiology Science & Practice
Volume
2017
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© 2017 The Author(s), licensee
Magdi Yacoub Institute. This is an
open access article distributed un-
der the terms of the Creative Com-
mons Attribution license CC BY-4.0,
which permits unrestricted use, dis-
tribution and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original work
is properly cited.
Magdi Yacoub Institute. This is an
open access article distributed un-
der the terms of the Creative Com-
mons Attribution license CC BY-4.0,
which permits unrestricted use, dis-
tribution and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original work
is properly cited.
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28971103
PII: gcsp.2017.4
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
Qatar
Article Number
e201704