💡  Fish oral vaccines have increased in both use and availability in recent years, but their efficacy on a fish’s immune system is under studied. Before reaching the immunological site, gastric acids and enzymes degrade the effectiveness of oral vaccinations.

📌 Research Highlights:
▶ One attempt at solving the problem of degradation is to encapsulate the antigens in poly-biodegradable nanoparticles, transgenic bacteria, plant systems, and live feeds.
▶ Nanotechnology has made it possible to regulate vaccination parameters, target specific cells, and actually lower the antigen dose using chitosan and poly D, L-lactic-co-glycolic acid as vaccine carriers.
▶ Given their small size and non-filter feed system, Artemia salina, a species of brine shrimp, is a viable candidate for being a bio-carrier through bio-encapsulation. Bio-encapsulation envelopes tissues or other biological active substances in a semipermeable membrane to protect the enclosed biological structures from hazardous processes.

🎯 In aquaculture, oral vaccination can be delivered either by coating the feed in antigens or through bio-encapsulation. Despite the advantages of orally administering vaccines, there are still limited numbers of licensed oral vaccinations due to the lack of the immune response when compared to injectable vaccines.

📷 Image: The systemic design process of an oral vaccine bio-encapsulated inside brine shrimp.

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