Publication date: Jul 04, 2025
One of the concerns regarding vaccine safety during the COVID-19 pandemic was the potential manifestation of vaccine-associated enhancement of disease (VAED) upon SARS-CoV-2 infection. To investigate the suitability of the Syrian hamster model to test for VAED, we immunized animals with an experimental formaldehyde-inactivated, alum-adjuvanted SARS-CoV-2 vaccine preparation. In two independent experiments, challenge infection did not result in an enhancement of the clinical disease in vaccinated animals compared with mock-vaccinated animals. However, at early timepoints (2-5 days) post-challenge, lung histopathology progressed faster and was more prominent in vaccinated hamsters and lung tissue showed elevated mRNA levels of IL-4 and IL-13. At later time points, cytokine responses and lung pathology were comparable between vaccinated and mock-vaccinated hamsters, underscoring the transient nature of the pathological aggravation. With this work we show that the Syrian hamster model can be used to assess possible vaccine safety considerations in a preclinical setting.
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| Concepts | Keywords |
|---|---|
| Formaldehyde | Cov |
| Hamster | Enhancement |
| Inactivated | Hamster |
| Pathology | Hamsters |
| Vaccines | Immunized |
| Inactivated | |
| Infection | |
| Lung | |
| Mock | |
| Safety | |
| Sars | |
| Syrian | |
| Vaccinated | |
| Vaccine | |
| Vaed |
Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| drug | DRUGBANK | Formaldehyde |
| disease | MESH | infection |
| disease | MESH | COVID-19 pandemic |
| pathway | REACTOME | SARS-CoV-2 Infection |
| drug | DRUGBANK | Binetrakin |
| disease | IDO | pathogen |
| disease | MESH | measles |
| pathway | KEGG | Measles |
| disease | IDO | immune response |
| disease | IDO | process |
| drug | DRUGBANK | Aluminum hydroxide |
| drug | DRUGBANK | Esomeprazole |
| pathway | KEGG | Viral replication |
| disease | MESH | hypersensitivity |
| drug | DRUGBANK | Trestolone |
| disease | MESH | weight loss |
| disease | IDO | replication |
| disease | MESH | inflammation |
| drug | DRUGBANK | Coenzyme M |
| disease | IDO | assay |