Abstract

In this chapter, an overview of in vivo induced antigen technology (IVIAT) and change mediated antigen technology (CMAT) will be presented, including a discussion of the advantages and limitations of these methods. Over fifteen different microbial pathogens have been or are known to be currently studied with these methods. Salient data obtained from the application of IVIAT and/or CMAT to a selection of human and plant pathogens will be summarized. This includes recent reports on Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A) in neurological disorders and invasive diseases, Xylella fastidiosa in Pierces disease, Xanthomonas campestris in bean blight, Salmonella enterica serovar typhi in typhoid fever and Leishmania spp. related infections. Special emphasis will be given to those targets that have been further investigated for the development of novel vaccine, diagnostic and/or antibiotherapy strategies. This encompasses a new point-of-care serological diagnostic test for chronic periodontal diseases. Finally, Mycobacterium tuberculosis in vivo induced products will be described as providing a rational basis for differentiating subjects with primary, dormant or secondary tuberculosis infections, from control subjects who have or did not have prior vaccination with BCG.

Keywords: Virulence, pathogenesis, bacterium, parasite, IVIAT, CMAT, IVET, STM, DFI