Characterization of markers of cold-adapted candidate virus strains for live attenuated vaccines against chickenpox and shingles

Introduction. Chickenpox poses a significant public health concern due to its worldwide occurrence, a substantial probability of severe clinical progression, development of complications that can lead to a fatal outcome. Routine vaccination is the only way to prevent the disease. The purpose of this study was to assess the attenuation of cold-adapted (CA) candidate virus strains of Varicella zoster and Herpes zoster by using traditional and new methods.Materials and methods. The study was performed on strains of diploid cells from human embryonic lung and musculocutaneous tissue, primary and diploid cells of guinea pig fetal fibroblasts. Two clinical isolates of the virus were obtained — from a child with chickenpox and from an adult during the reactivation of shingles. The vOka vaccine strain and Ellen strain, a laboratory strain, were used as a control. The viral infectivity was measured by using a sensitive limiting dilution assay. The virulence was measured through the analysis of chick embryo chorioallantoic membranes infected with the Varicella zoster virus.Results. The clinical isolates were sub-cultured at lower temperatures, put through comparative tests and checked for presence of attenuation biomarkers. It was found that vFiraVax, a Varicella zoster virus strain, and vZelVax, a Herpes zoster virus strain were temperature-sensitive and cold-adaptable, but they lacked virulence. Attenuated CA virus strains induced lower expression of IFN-α and IFN-γ receptors on human mononuclear cells as compared to their parental variants.Conclusion. We created and assessed two candidate vaccine strains through attenuation of clinical isolates.