Toxicity Evaluation of a VLP-Based Vaccine Аgainst Human Rotavirus Infection Following a Single Administration in Rats: Serum Biochemistry and Histopathological Examination of Organs and Injection Site
Abstract
Virus-like particle (VLP) - based vaccines exhibit outstanding clinical, epidemiological, and immunological efficacy and specificity. The novel technology used for producing their active component without incorporating live viruses enables both injectable and non-injectable (e.g., intranasal) administration, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive safety assessment. This study is part of a preclinical toxicological evaluation program aimed at assessing the safety profile of the “Gam-VLP-rota” vaccine candidate targeting human rotavirus infection.
The goal of this extended toxicology study was to confirm the safety of a single intramuscular administration of the vaccine in Sprague-Dawley rats. The study focused on identifying possible adverse effects both acutely (within 24 hours post-administration) and after a 14-day recovery period, aiming to detect delayed toxicological signs. Toxicological endpoints included evaluation of target organs, coagulation parameters, hematology, clinical biochemistry, necropsy findings, and histopathological analysis.
This article presents a segment of the results, including changes in serum biochemical parameters after a single immunization and histological examination of internal organs and the injection site in rats.
Keywords: VLP; vaccines; preclinical studies; vaccine safety; toxicological chemistry.
Keywords:
VLP, vaccines, preclinical studies, vaccine safety, toxicological chemistryDOI
https://doi.org/10.22270/jddt.v15i8.7314References
1. Zaheer T, Pal K, Zaheer I. Topical review on nano-vaccinology: Biochemical promises and key challenges. Process Biochemistry 2021;100:237-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procbio.2020.09.028 PMid:33013180 PMCid:PMC7521878
2. Tusé D, Malm M, Tamminen K, Diessner A, Thieme F, Jarczowski F, et al. Safety and immunogenicity studies in animal models support clinical development of a bivalent norovirus-like particle vaccine produced in plants. Vaccine 2022;40:977-87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.01.009 PMid:35063285
3. Hemmati F, Hemmati-Dinarvand M, Karimzade M, Rutkowska D, Eskandari MH, Khanizadeh S, et al. Plant-derived VLP: a worthy platform to produce vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. Biotechnol Lett 2022;44:45-57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-021-03211-0 PMid:34837582 PMCid:PMC8626723
4. Chernoryzh YY, Kondratieva VM, Malkova АP, Savochkina TE, Eliseeva O V., Latyshev OE, et al. Pre-clinical safety studies of intranasal virus-like particles based vaccine for prevention of COVID-19. Probl Virol 2025;70:35-46. https://doi.org/10.36233/0507-4088-278 PMid:40233335
5. Grebennikova T V., Zaykova ON, Plotnikov AA, Kostina L V., Chernoryzh YYu, Eliseeva O V., et al. A study of the safety and immunogenicity of a new vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 based on virus-like particles in phase I clinical trials. Journal of Microbiology, Epidemiology and Immunobiology 2025;102:135-49. https://doi.org/10.36233/0372-9311-661
6. Hu B, Guo H, Zhou P, Shi Z-L. Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19. Nat Rev Microbiol 2021;19:141-54. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-020-00459-7 PMid:33024307 PMCid:PMC7537588
7. Abdella WS, Selim AN, Diab S, Qobeia E, Elgazzar AF. Vaccination and Therapeutics, 2024, p. 165-84. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61939-7_9 PMid:39283426
8. Filatov IE, Silaenkova MM, Tsibezov V V., Balandina M V., Norkina SN, Latyshev OE, et al. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to determine the potency of a rotavirus vaccine based on virus-like particles: analytical procedure development and validation. Biological Products Prevention, Diagnosis, Treatment 2024;24:389-402. https://doi.org/10.30895/2221-996X-2024-24-4-389-402
9. Krammer F. SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in development. Nature 2020;586:516-27. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2798-3 PMid:32967006
10. Sun L, Shen L, Fan J, Gu F, Hu M, An Y, et al. Clinical features of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 from a designated hospital in Beijing, China. J Med Virol 2020;92:2055-66. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmv.25966 PMid:32369208 PMCid:PMC7267635
11. Li Z, Xiang T, Liang B, Deng H, Wang H, Feng X, et al. Characterization of SARS-CoV-2-Specific Humoral and Cellular Immune Responses Induced by Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccines in a Real-World Setting. Front Immunol 2021;12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.802858 PMid:35003131 PMCid:PMC8727357
12. Ciampi E, Uribe-San-Martin R, Soler B, García L, Guzman J, Pelayo C, et al. Safety and humoral response rate of inactivated and mRNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 in patients with Multiple Sclerosis. Mult Scler Relat Disord 2022;59:103690. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msard.2022.103690 PMid:35182880 PMCid:PMC8842089
13. Akova M, Unal S. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (inactivated, Vero cell): a structured summary of a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Trials 2021;22:276. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-021-05180-1 PMid:33849629 PMCid:PMC8042350
14. Lai C-C, Chen I-T, Chao C-M, Lee P-I, Ko W-C, Hsueh P-R. COVID-19 vaccines: concerns beyond protective efficacy and safety. Expert Rev Vaccines 2021;20:1013-25. https://doi.org/10.1080/14760584.2021.1949293 PMid:34180347
15. Plotnikov AA, Zaykova ON, Rusakova E V., Grebennikova T V. Social Epidemiology: Relevance, Approaches, Main Directions and Development Trends. PUBLIC HEALTH AND LIFE ENVIRONMENT 2025:61-72. https://doi.org/10.35627/2219-5238/2025-33-1-61-72
16. Nooraei S, Bahrulolum H, Hoseini ZS, Katalani C, Hajizade A, Easton AJ, et al. Virus-like particles: preparation, immunogenicity and their roles as nanovaccines and drug nanocarriers. J Nanobiotechnology 2021;19:59. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12951-021-00806-7 PMid:33632278 PMCid:PMC7905985
17. Hadj Hassine I, Ben M'hadheb M, Almalki MA, Gharbi J. Virus‐like particles as powerful vaccination strategy against human viruses. Rev Med Virol 2024;34. https://doi.org/10.1002/rmv.2498 PMid:38116958
18. Liu J, Dai S, Wang M, Hu Z, Wang H, Deng F. Virus like particle-based vaccines against emerging infectious disease viruses. Virol Sin 2016;31:279-87. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12250-016-3756-y PMid:27405928 PMCid:PMC7090901
19. Jeong H, Seong BL. Exploiting virus-like particles as innovative vaccines against emerging viral infections. Journal of Microbiology 2017;55:220-30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-017-7058-3 PMid:28243941 PMCid:PMC7090582
20. Lua LHL, Connors NK, Sainsbury F, Chuan YP, Wibowo N, Middelberg APJ. Bioengineering virus‐like particles as vaccines. Biotechnol Bioeng 2014;111:425-40. https://doi.org/10.1002/bit.25159 PMid:24347238
21. Quan F-S, Basak S, Chu K-B, Kim SS, Kang S-M. Progress in the development of virus-like particle vaccines against respiratory viruses. Expert Rev Vaccines 2020;19:11-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/14760584.2020.1711053 PMid:31903811 PMCid:PMC7103727
22. Ledenev O V., Levitskaya O V., Syroeshkin A V. Drugs Based on Bioactive Oligopeptides. Journal of Drug Delivery and Therapeutics 2025;15:244-52. https://doi.org/10.22270/jddt.v15i6.7194
23. Nazarov AA, Ledenev OV, Petrov GV, Levitskaya OV, Syroeshkin AV. New Method of Quality and Quantity Control of the Insulin Glulisine Pharmaceuticals Based on Intrinsic Radiothermal Emission. Journal of Drug Delivery and Therapeutics 2025;15:116-25. https://doi.org/10.22270/jddt.v15i6.7189
24. Bakhrushina EO, Mikhel IB, Kondratieva VM, Zubareva IM, Kosenkova SI, Belyatskaya A V., et al. Intranasal Ion-Triggered In Situ Delivery System of Virus-like Particles: Development Using the Quality by Design Approach. Polymers (Basel) 2024;16:685. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16050685 PMid:38475368 PMCid:PMC10935056
25. Liu H, Chen H, Yang Z, Wen Z, Gao Z, Liu Z, et al. Precision Nanovaccines for Potent Vaccination. JACS Au 2024;4:2792-810. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacsau.4c00568 PMid:39211600 PMCid:PMC11350730
26. Pulendran B, S. Arunachalam P, O'Hagan DT. Emerging concepts in the science of vaccine adjuvants. Nat Rev Drug Discov 2021;20:454-75. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41573-021-00163-y PMid:33824489 PMCid:PMC8023785
27. Petrov G V., Galkina DA, Koldina AM, Grebennikova T V., Eliseeva O V., Chernoryzh YYu, et al. Controlling the Quality of Nanodrugs According to Their New Property-Radiothermal Emission. Pharmaceutics 2024;16:180. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics16020180 PMid:38399241 PMCid:PMC10891502
28. Rothen DA, Dutta SK, Krenger PS, Vogt A-CS, Lieknina I, Sobczak JM, et al. Preclinical Evaluation of Novel Sterically Optimized VLP-Based Vaccines against All Four DENV Serotypes. Vaccines (Basel) 2024;12:874. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines12080874 PMid:39204000 PMCid:PMC11359203
29. Syroeshkin A V., Petrov G V., Taranov V V., Pleteneva T V., Koldina AM, Gaydashev IA, et al. Radiothermal Emission of Nanoparticles with a Complex Shape as a Tool for the Quality Control of Pharmaceuticals Containing Biologically Active Nanoparticles. Pharmaceutics 2023;15:966. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics15030966 PMid:36986826 PMCid:PMC10059067
30. Liu X, Min Q, Song H, Yue A, Li Q, Zhou Q, et al. Potentiating humoral and cellular immunity using a novel hybrid polymer-lipid nanoparticle adjuvant for HBsAg-VLP vaccine. J Nanobiotechnology 2023;21:441. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12951-023-02116-6 PMid:37993870 PMCid:PMC10666313
31. Kheirvari M, Liu H, Tumban E. Virus-like Particle Vaccines and Platforms for Vaccine Development. Viruses 2023;15:1109. https://doi.org/10.3390/v15051109 PMid:37243195 PMCid:PMC10223759
32. Kostina L V., Filatov IE, Eliseeva O V., Latyshev OE, Chernoryzh YYu, Yurlov KI, et al. Study of the safety and immunogenicity of VLP-based vaccine for the prevention of rotavirus infection in neonatal minipig model. Probl Virol 2023;68:415-27. https://doi.org/10.36233/0507-4088-194 PMid:38156575
33. Salmons B, Lim P-Y, Djurup R, Cardosa J. Non-clinical safety assessment of repeated intramuscular administration of an EV-A71 VLP vaccine in rabbits. Vaccine 2018;36:6623-30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.09.062 PMid:30293762
34. Yilmaz IC, Ipekoglu EM, Bulbul A, Turay N, Yildirim M, Evcili I, et al. Development and preclinical evaluation of virus‐like particle vaccine against COVID‐19 infection. Allergy 2022;77:258-70. https://doi.org/10.1111/all.15091 PMid:34519053 PMCid:PMC8653174
35. Srinivasa Reddy Y, Narendra Babu K, Qadri SSYH, Surekha MV, Dinesh Kumar B. An innovative method of nonclinical efficacy and toxicological evaluation of recombinant Salmonella typhi Ty21a expressing HPV16 and 18 L1 proteins. MethodsX 2021;8:101219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2021.101219 PMid:34434742 PMCid:PMC8374194
36. Pazos-Castro D, Margain C, Gonzalez-Klein Z, Amores-Borge M, Yuste-Calvo C, Garrido-Arandia M, et al. Suitability of potyviral recombinant virus-like particles bearing a complete food allergen for immunotherapy vaccines. Front Immunol 2022;13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.986823 PMid:36159839 PMCid:PMC9492988
37. Petrov G V., Koldina AM, Ledenev O V., Tumasov VN, Nazarov AA, Syroeshkin A V. Nanoparticles and Nanomaterials: A Review from the Standpoint of Pharmacy and Medicine. Pharmaceutics 2025;17:655. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics17050655 PMid:40430945 PMCid:PMC12114779
38. Go H-J, Park B-J, Ahn H-S, Han S-H, Kim D-H, Lyoo E-L, et al. Immunization with Virus-Like Particle Vaccine Protects Rabbits against Hepatitis E-3 Virus Infection. Viruses 2022;14:1432. https://doi.org/10.3390/v14071432 PMid:35891413 PMCid:PMC9322348
39. Hossain MJ, Bourgeois M, Quan F-S, Lipatov AS, Song J-M, Chen L-M, et al. Virus-Like Particle Vaccine Containing Hemagglutinin Confers Protection against 2009 H1N1 Pandemic Influenza. Clinical and Vaccine Immunology 2011;18:2010-7. https://doi.org/10.1128/CVI.05206-11 PMid:22030367 PMCid:PMC3232700
40. Pillet S, Arunachalam PS, Andreani G, Golden N, Fontenot J, Aye PP, et al. Safety, immunogenicity, and protection provided by unadjuvanted and adjuvanted formulations of a recombinant plant-derived virus-like particle vaccine candidate for COVID-19 in nonhuman primates. Cell Mol Immunol 2022;19:222-33. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41423-021-00809-2 PMid:34983950 PMCid:PMC8727235
Published
Abstract Display: 508
PDF Downloads: 333
PDF Downloads: 331 How to Cite
Issue
Section
Copyright (c) 2025 Oleg V. Ledenev , Ilya E. Filatov , Olesya V. Eliseeva , Oleg E. Latyshev , Igor A. Dyachenko , Gulsara A. Slashcheva , Elvira R. Shaykhutdinova , Ekaterina N. Kazakova , Elena S. Sadovnikova , Olga I. Patsap , Varvara V. Lebedeva , Arkady N. Murashev , Tatiana V. Grebennikova

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

.