Investigation of urinary metabolomics in a phase I hookworm vaccine trial in Gabon

Metabolomics provides a powerful tool to study physiological changes in response to various perturbations such as vaccination. We explored whether metabolomic changes could be seen after vaccination in a phase I trial where Gabonese adults living either in rural or semi-urban areas received the subunit hookworm vaccine candidates (Na-GST-1 and Na-APR-1 (M74) adjuvanted with Alhydrogel plus GLA-AF (n = 24) or the hepatitis B vaccine (n = 8) as control. Urine samples were collected and assayed using targeted (1)H NMR spectroscopy. At baseline, a set of metabolites significantly distinguished rural from semi-urban individuals. The pre- and post-vaccination comparisons indicated significant changes in few metabolites but only one day after the first vaccination. There was no relationship with immunogenicity. In conclusion, in a small phase 1 trial, urinary metabolomics could distinguish volunteers with different environmental exposures and reflected the safety of the vaccines but did not show a relationship to immunogenicity.