African green monkeys provide a useful nonhuman primate model for the study of human parainfluenza virus types-1,-2, and-3 infection

Human parainfluenza virus (HPIV) types-1, -2, and -3 are significant causes of both upper and Lower respiratory tract disease in infants and children. Although there are two live attenuated vaccines for the prevention of HPIV -3 disease in phase 1 clinical trials, vaccines are not currently available for prevention of HPIV-1 or -2 disease. Our laboratory is developing candi date vaccines for the prevention of HPIV-1, -2, and -3 disease, and a suita ble nonhuman primate model is needed for evaluation of these vaccine candid ates prior to administration to humans. We evaluated the replication of HPI V-1 and -2 in six different species of nonhuman primates and found both vir uses to replicate most efficiently in African green monkeys and chimpanzees . We then compared the replication of HPIV-3 in African green monkeys to th at in rhesus macaques, which we have used previously, and found that HPIV-3 replicated to higher titer in African green monkeys. In summary, African g reen monkeys provide a very useful nonhuman primate for the evaluation of H PIV-1, -2, and -3 vaccine candidates, especially for the evaluation of vari ous combinations of these PIV vaccines and for vaccine strategies that empl oy sequential immunization. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.