diphtheria vaccine

Persistent Pelvic Adhesions and Fibrotic Remodeling Following Ectopic Lesion Ablation in a Mouse Model of Endometriosis.

Yun Sohyeon S, So Kyeong A KA, Jeong Eunhee M EM, Hoover Marissa G MG et al.

Endometriosis is a chronic, estrogen-dependent inflammatory disorder characterized by ectopic endometrial-like lesions, fibrosis, and persistent pelvic pain. Although ectopic lesions are important contributors to pain, symptom severity often correlates poorly with lesion burden, suggesting lesion-independent mechanisms. Here, we investigated the contribution of ectopic lesion-derived cells to persistent pelvic adhesions, fibrotic remodeling, and endometriosis-associated behavioral alterations using a mouse model. A syngeneic model combined with inducible diphtheria toxin receptor (iDTR)-mediated cell ablation was used to selectively eliminate donor-derived progesterone receptor-expressing ectopic cells. Endometriosis was induced by transplantation of uterine tissue from Pgrcre/+Rosa26iDTR/mTmG donor mice into recipients, followed by diphtheria toxin-mediated lesion ablation. Lesion burden, pelvic adhesions, and fibrotic remodeling were assessed by imaging, histology, and molecular analyses, while behavioral outcomes were evaluated using non-evoked assays. Selective ablation eliminated detectable GFP-positive ectopic lesions. Histological and molecular analyses demonstrated significantly reduced collagen deposition and α-SMA-positive fibrotic remodeling within adhesion-associated tissues relative to established ectopic lesions, although these measures remained elevated above sham controls. However, despite lesion ablation, no statistically significant differences were detected between DT- and vehicle-treated mice in nesting or marble-burying performance, although the modest cohort size may have limited detection of partial behavioral effects. These findings indicate that, although fibrosis in adhesion-associated tissues was reduced relative to established ectopic lesions, residual fibrotic remodeling persisted above sham levels, whereas behavioral outcomes showed variable responses without a significant, uniform reversal, highlighting the potential importance of targeting fibrotic and adhesive remodeling in addition to ectopic lesions.

First mRNA Cancer Vaccine Succeeds in Phase III Trial.

Adding the mRNA-based individualized neoantigen vaccine intismeran autogene to the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab following surgery for melanoma reduced the risk of disease recurrence or death by 42%, according to the results of the phase III INTerpath-0001 trial. The data were presented at the ESMO Congress 2026, held October 23-27, in Madrid, Spain.

Innovative vaccine strategies for sustainable control and eradication of peste des petits ruminants virus.

Bello Muhammad Bashir MB, Hameed Sodiq A SA, Abdullahi Adama Musa AM, Lawal Nafi'u N et al.

A Carriage-Structured Model of Meningococcal Meningitis: Backward Bifurcation, Seasonal Recurrence, and the Reach of Conjugate-Vaccine Strategies in the African Meningitis Belt.

Gatyeni Siphokazi Princess SP

Epidemic meningococcal meningitis in the African meningitis belt recurs on two timescales: a sharp annual dry-season peak and irregular multi-annual epidemics five to twelve years apart, whose mechanistic origin remains unsettled. Invasive disease is a rare, dead-end outcome of asymptomatic nasopharyngeal carriage, so susceptible-infectious templates misrepresent community transmission. We ask how carriage structure shapes bifurcation, seasonal recurrence, and the reach of conjugate-vaccine strategies. We formulate a deterministic carriage-structured model in which only carriers transmit, immunity against re-acquisition is leaky, and a conjugate vaccine is imperfect and wanes. We use the Castillo-Chavez-Song centre manifold method, numerical continuation, Floquet and eigenvalue analysis, and scenario simulations of abstract rate- and pulse-type interventions parameterised from published belt ranges. The basic reproduction number R0 is a property of carriage transmission, decoupled to first order from disease incidence. Backward bifurcation at R0=1 is governed by a threshold ε∗ on carriage-blocking immunity; only the untreated fatality hazard and treatment capacity are absent from the local condition. It is impossible without vaccination and, with any positive routine coverage, persists across the plausible coverage range, giving vaccine-induced bistability. Continuation confirms a fold at R0,c≈0.946 (φ=0.12yr-1, weak carriage immunity), but not at baseline immunity. Under seasonal forcing, dynamics converge to a simple annual cycle throughout the region searched; we found no multi-annual recurrence, although damped eigenmodes of the unforced system have periods overlapping the observed interval. Within this deterministic, single-strain model, irregular recurrence likely requires additional structure, with stochastic amplification of damped cycles a natural next step. Whether sustained immunisation eliminates epidemics or merely postpones them may depend on the same carriage-efficacy threshold that governs the bistability result.