Streptococcus pyogenes infections continue to be a worldwide public health problem, causing various diseases in humans, with rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease being the most harmful manifestations. Impetigo and post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis are also important sequelae of skin infections. We have developed a candidate vaccine epitope (StreptInCor) that presents promising results in diverse animal models. To assess whether the StreptInCor alum-adsorbed vaccine could induce undesirable effects, a certified independent company conducted a repeated intramuscular dose toxicity evaluation in Wistar rats, a choice model for toxicity studies. We did not observe significant alterations in clinical, hematological, biochemical, anatomical, or histopathological parameters due to vaccine administration, even when the animals received the highest dose. In conclusion, repeated intramuscular doses did not show signs of macroscopic or other significant changes in the clinical or histopathological parameters, indicating that StreptInCor can be considered a safe candidate vaccine.
Keywords: S. pyogenes; histopathology; safety; toxicity; vaccine.
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