Strategies for successful designing of immunocontraceptive vaccines and recent updates in vaccine development against sexually transmitted infections - A review

BACKGROUND: The world population is continuously growing. It has been estimated that half of the world’s population is from the Asian continent, mainly from China and India. Overpopulation may lead to many societal problems as well as to changes in the habitat. Birth control measures are thus needed to control this growth. However, for the last 50–60 years, there have not been any improvements in the field of contraception. Nevertheless, the immunocontraceptive vaccine is an emerging field, and it might be the only replacement for the existing mode of contraception for the next millennium. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are frequent, and their transmission rate increases yearly. As antibiotics are the prevailing treatment for this kind of infections, resistance in humans has increased; therefore, having effective antibiotic treatments for STIs is now a concern. Vaccines against STIs are now needed. It is thought that the improvements in the fields of proteomics, immunomics, metabolomics, and other omics will help in the successful development of vaccines. OBJECTIVE: To collect and review the literature about recent advancements in immunocontraception and vaccines against sexually transmitted diseases/infections. METHODS: Reliable scientific databases, such as PubMed Central, PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, and Goggle Scholar, were consulted. Publications bearing important information on targeted antigens/immunogens for contraceptive vaccine design and advancements in vaccine development for STIs were gathered and tabulated, and details were analyzed as per the theme of each study. RESULTS: Important antigens that have a specific role in fertility have been studied extensively for their contraceptive nature. Additionally, the advancements in the screening for the best antigens, according to their antigenic nature and how they elicit immune responses for an extended period were also studied. Herd immunity for STIs and advancements in the development of vaccines for syphilis, gonorrhea, and herpes simplex virus were also studied and tabulated in this review. An extensive knowledge on STIs vaccines was gained. CONCLUSION: This extensive review is aimed to provide insights for active researchers in vaccinology, immunology, and reproductive biology. Advancements in the development of vaccines for different STIs can be gathered as a wholesome report.