Clinical and Experimental Vaccine Research

The Korean Vaccine Society (대한백신학회)
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Effect of SpikoGen subunit vaccine administration during pregnancy on fetal development of rats

  • Mehdi Aghsami (Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, Iran University of Medical Sciences) ;
  • Hesham Aljoiber (Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, Iran University of Medical Sciences) ;
  • Shabnam Mirfendereski (School of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences) ;
  • Negar Mottaghi-Dastjerdi (Department of Pharmacognosy and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy, Iran University of Medical Sciences) ;
  • Javad Soltani (Department of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services) ;
  • Hamidreza Aslani (Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacoeconomics, School of Pharmacy, Iran University of Medical Sciences) ;
  • Marjan Shariatpanahi (Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, Iran University of Medical Sciences)
  • Received : 2024.01.26
  • Accepted : 2024.07.06
  • Published : 2024.10.31
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Abstract

Purpose: The effects of coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination on fertility and pregnancy have turned out to be a main topic of public attention. Inactivated or recombinant protein vaccines are a reliable and safe method but mostly suffer from weak immunogenicity just in case formulated with a suitable adjuvant. The purpose of this research was to assess the impacts of new SpikoGen subunit vaccine administration during pregnancy on organogenesis in the rat fetus, which is a novel achievement in teratogenesis studies. Materials and Methods: In the first group (G1) animals received normal saline. A dose of 25 ㎍ of the vaccine was administered to groups of rats as follows: groups 2, 3, 4, and 5 received two doses of vaccine on different days before and after start of pregnancy. On day 21, after the caesarean process, the effects of the vaccine were estimated by morphological, skeletal, and histological studies. Results: Administration of the SpikoGen vaccine had no significant effect on weight, head diameter, tail length, and length of the fetuses to their tail. There were no malformations, toes and legs were fully developed, and all internal organs of the fetus were completely formed. Also, there was no difference in the overall skeletal opacity and density between the control and treatment groups. Conclusion: The results of this study indicated no negative impacts of the vaccine administration during pregnancy on developing of fetuses in rats.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

The authors are thankful to CinnaGen Biotechnology Company, Tehran, Iran, for providing the infrastructural supports for the study. Authors also acknowledge the Iran University of Medical Sciences for their support.

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