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Rhipicephalus microplus, popularly known as the cattle tick, is the most important tick of livestock as it is responsible for significant economic losses. The use of chemical acaricides is still the most widely used control method despite its known disadvantages. Vaccination would be a safe alternative for the control of R. microplus and holds advantages over the use of chemical acaricides as it is environmental-friendly and leaves no residues in meat or milk. Two vaccines based on the Bm86 protein were commercialized, TickGARD® and Gavac®, with varying reported efficacies in different countries. The use of other vaccines, such as Tick Vac®, Go-Tick®, and Bovimune Ixovac® have been restricted to some countries. Several other proteins have been analyzed as possible antigens for more effective vaccines against R. microplus, including peptidases, serine proteinase inhibitors, glutathione S-transferases, metalloproteases, and ribosomal proteins, with efficacies ranging from 14% to 96%. Nonetheless, more research is needed to develop safe and efficient tick vaccines, such as the evaluation of the efficacy of antigens against other tick species to verify cross-reactivity and inclusion of additional antigens to promote the blocking of the infection and spreading of tick-borne diseases. This review summarizes the discoveries of candidate antigens for R. microplus tick vaccines as well as the methods used to test their efficacy.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), caused by digenetic protozoa of the genus Leishmania, is the most severe form of leishmaniasis. Leishmania infantum is one of the species responsible for VL and the disease caused is considered a zoonosis whose main reservoir is the dog. Canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) can lead to the death of the animal if left untreated. Furthermore, the available pharmocologial treatment for CVL presents numerous disadvantages, such as relapses, toxicity, drug resistance, and the fact treated animals continue to be reservoirs when treatment fails to achieve parasitological cure. Moreover, the available VL control methods have not been adequate when it comes to controlling parasite transmission. Advances in immune response knowledge in recent years have led to a better understanding of VL pathogenesis, allowing new treatments to be developed based on immune system activation, often referred to as immunotherapy. In fact, well-defined protocols have been described, ranging from the use of immunomodulators to the use of vaccines. This treatment, which can also be associated with chemotherapy, has been shown to be effective in restoring or inducing an adequate immune response to reduce parasitic burden, leading to clinical improvement. This review focuses on immunotherapy directed at dogs infected by L. infantum, including a literature review of what has already been done in dogs. We also introduce a promising strategy to improve the efficacy of immunotherapy.

Ticks are considered the most important vectors in veterinary medicine with a profound impact on animal health worldwide, as well as being key vectors of diseases affecting household pets. The leading strategy applied to dog tick control is the continued use of acaricides. However, this approach is not sustainable due to surging tick resistance, growing public concern over pesticide residues in food and in the environment, and the rising costs associated with their development. In contrast, tick vaccines are a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative against tick-borne diseases by controlling vector infestations and reducing pathogen transmission. These premises have encouraged researchers to develop an effective vaccine against ticks, with several proteins having been characterized and used in native, synthetic, and recombinant forms as antigens in immunizations. The growing interaction between domestic pets and people underscores the importance of developing new tick control measures that require effective screening platforms applied to vaccine development. However, as reviewed in this paper, very little progress has been made in controlling ectoparasite infestations in pets using the vaccine approach. The control of tick infestations and pathogen transmission could be obtained through immunization programs aimed at reducing the tick population and interfering in the pathogenic transmission that affects human and animal health on a global scale.

Canine leishmaniosis (CanL) is one of the most important parasitic diseases found in several countries worldwide. Dogs are considered important domestic reservoirs of the parasites, being relevant in the maintenance of transmission cycle of the disease between sandflies and humans. However, the prevalence of asymptomatic infection is considerably higher than that of apparent clinical illness in the infected animals; thus making promptly necessary to diagnose the infection in these animals, which could help to allow to the adoption of more efficient control measures against disease. Parasitological tests, which are considered as gold standard to demonstrate the infection and diagnose the disease, present problems related with their sensitivity. Also, the sample´s collect is considered invasive. As consequence, serological tests could be applied as an additional tool to detect the asymptomatic and symptomatic CanL. For this purpose, distinct recombinant antigens have been studied; however, problems in their sensitivity and/or specificity have been still registered. The present review focus in advances in the identification of new diagnostic targets applied for the CanL diagnose, represented here by recombinant single, combined or chimeric proteins, as well as by peptides that mimic epitopes (mimotopes); which were selected by means of immunoproteomics and phage display.

Background: Deuterium oxide is a molecule that has been used for decades in several studies related to human health. Currently, studies on D2O have mobilized a “Race for Patenting” worldwide. Several patents have been registered from biomedical and technological studies of D2O showing the potential of this stable isotope in industry and health care ecosystems. Methods: Most of the patents related to the applications of the deuterium oxide in human health have been summarized in this review. The following patents databases were consulted: European Patent Office (Espacenet), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the United States Latin America Patents (LATIPAT), Patent scope -Search International and National Patent Collections (WIPO), Google Patents and Free Patents Online. Results: With this review, the information was collected on recent publications including 22 patents related to deuterium oxide and its applications in different areas. Conclusion: This review showed that deuterium oxide is a promising component in different areas, including biotechnology, chemistry and medicine. In addition, the knowledge of this compound was covered, reinforcing its importance in the field of biotechnology and human health.

Background Phytases are enzymes capable of degrading phytic acid and are used in animal feed supplementation in order to improve digestibility through the release of minerals such as phosphorus. Recent inventions show interest in production and optimization of recombinant phytases with biochemical and physicochemical characteristics promising for animal feed industry. Methods This review article is focused on relevant patents of promising phytases, together with the commonly used expression systems for their production and tools currently employed to generate new phytases. We revised all patents related to recombinant phytases and their application in the animal feed industry. The following patents databases were consulted: European Patent Office (Espacenet), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the United States Latin America Patents (LATIPAT), Patent scope -Search International and National Patent Collections (WIPO) and Google Patents. Results In this review, information was collected from recent publications, including 38 patents related production systems for different recombinant phytases and their application in the animal feed industry. Conclusion We showed that important recombinant phytases were successfully produced in different expression systems. In addition, this work highlights certain biotechnological tools such as mutagenesis for generation of novel enzymes with biochemical properties of use in the animal feed industry.

The main aim goal of this review was to gather information about recent publications related to deuterium oxide (D2O), and its use as a scientific tool related to human health. Searches were made in electronic databases Pubmed, Scielo, Lilacs, Medline and Cochrane. Moreover, the following patent databases were consulted: EPO (Espacenet patent search), USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) and Google Patents, which cover researches worldwide related to innovations using D2O.