Topic:Antisera
Antisera refer to blood serum containing antibodies against specific antigens, produced by the immune system in response to exposure to these antigens. In horses, antisera are commonly used for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes, particularly in the treatment of venomous bites or stings, and in combating infectious diseases. The production of equine antisera involves immunizing horses with a particular antigen and subsequently collecting and processing their blood to extract the serum rich in antibodies. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the production, application, and efficacy of antisera in equine medicine, as well as advancements in safety and regulatory considerations in their use.
Expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens on horse trophoblast. Antibodies to fetal major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens are routinely detected in the serum of pregnant mares some 2-4 weeks after formation of the endometrial cups at Day 36-38 after ovulation. Several experimental approaches were taken to determine whether paternal MHC antigens are expressed on horse placental tissues. First, absorption of anti-paternal MHC antisera with a large volume of endometrial cup cells removed antibody activity in only 2 of 4 experiments. Second, repeated immunization of horses with endometrial cup tissue recovered from a mare on Day 47 of pregnancy faile...
The proteins of equid herpesvirus 1 (EHV 1) recognised by equine antisera and their ability to promote antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Equine sera were used to immunoprecipitate radiolabelled virus-infected cell proteins; subsequent resolution with polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis identified the EHV-1 polypeptides VP 2, 10a, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21 and 23a. The humoral support of ADCC by these sera was examined in vitro. Cytotoxicity could be demonstrated against both subtypes irrespective of the immunising isolate. The implications of these results are discussed.
Evidence of a second polymorphic ELA class I (ELA-B) locus and gene order for three loci of the equine major histocompatibility complex. Two antisera, B-442 and R-2046, were produced by immunizing offspring with purified peripheral blood lymphocytes from a parent matched for the ELA-A specificity carried on the unshared haplotype. Absorption analysis demonstrated that these antisera contained at least two families of cytotoxic antibodies, one directed against antigens present on T and B cells, and a second directed preferentially against antigens present on surface Ig positive cells. Immunoprecipitation studies using these antisera demonstrated that both antisera contain antibodies specific for glycoproteins with molecular weig...
Phagocytosis of horse erythrocytes treated with equine infectious anemia virus by cultivated horse leukocytes. Horse erythrocytes treated with equine infectious anemia virus hemagglutinin were phagocytized by cultivated horse leukocytes (mainly macrophage-like cells and partly polymorphonuclear cells) after incubation with fresh horse serum but not with inactivated horse serum. The phagocytosis began as soon as the erythrocytes were added to the leukocyte cultures, and the majority of the reaction proceeded within 30 minutes. Addition of antiserum showed a slightly suppressing but no enhancing effect on the phagocytosis. Phagocytosis seemed to be caused by the recognition of the third complement compon...
Investigation of the antigenic relationship between equine IgG and IgGT. The antigenic cross reactivity between equine IgG and IgGT was investigated. On the basis of immunodiffusion and immunoelectrophoresis reactions using an antiserum raised against the Fc fraction of IgGT, this equine immunoglobulin can be unequivocally classified as a subclass of IgG.
Shedding and interspecies type sero-reactivity of the envelope glycopolypeptide gp120 of the human immunodeficiency virus. Two glycopolypeptides with molecular weights 160,000 and 120,000 (gp120) are regularly recognized by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-specific antisera in lysates of cells persistently infected with HIV. In the present study, gp120 was characterized as the major envelope glycopolypeptide of HIV. Gp120 was identified as the external viral glycoprotein by radiosequencing and by its presence in purified virus. However gp120 was predominantly shed as a soluble protein into the culture fluid. Furthermore gp120 was precipitated by sera from horses infected with equine infectious anaemia virus (EIA...
Use of indirect and competitive ELISAs to compare isolates of equine influenza A virus. Antigenic differences within equine-1 and equine-2 isolates of influenza were studied by haemagglutination inhibition tests, indirect ELISA and competition ELISA, using the same antisera. Better differentiation was obtained with the competition ELISA than with the other two tests. All three methods produced similar relationships within the equine-1 isolates but differed in their ability to differentiate the equine-2 isolates where the competition ELISA was superior and produced epidemiologically sensible results. In all three tests, post-infection ferret and horse sera were more useful in disc...
Development of a homologous equine relaxin radioimmunoassay. Equine relaxin (eRlx) immunoactivity has previously been measured in the mare during pregnancy using the porcine relaxin (pRlx) RIA (pRlx-RIA). This was not the optimal system for measurement of eRlx because the dose-response curve obtained with equine plasma was not parallel to the pRlx standard curve. A homologous eRlx-RIA has been developed and used to measure relaxin immunoactivity during pregnancy and parturition in the mare. Highly purified eRlx was used for the generation of antiserum in rabbits, preparation of tracer, and as assay standards. A double antibody eRlx RIA (eRlx-RIA) was de...
Isolation of piliated Escherichia coli from diarrheic foals. Escherichia coli was isolated from the feces and intestines of foals with and without diarrhea. Piliation of isolates was demonstrated by electron microscopy and agglutination in antisera having specificity for K88, K99, P987 and F41 pili. Piliation was also demonstrated by electron microscopy on organisms which did not react with any of the antisera.
Genomic and antigenic comparison of an equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV 1) isolate from the 1983 Lippizan abortion storm with EHV 1 reference strains. An EHV 1 isolate from the Lippizan Stud at Piber, which caused the abortion and paresis outbreak in 1983, was investigated using 3 known subtype 1 and 2 subtype 2 strains for comparison. Broad-scale restriction enzyme analysis as well as cross-neutralization with hyperimmune sera produced in rabbits were performed, and SDS-PAGE of infected cell proteins was conducted on a limited scale. The Piber isolate was clearly classified as a subtype 1 strain of EHV 1, and showed closest resemblance in its restriction patterns with a British EHV 1 strain, which originated from an outbreak with paretic sy...
Endotoxemia in horses: protection provided by antiserum to core lipopolysaccharide. An equine antiserum to core lipopolysaccharide was produced by inoculation of 6 horses with a boiled cell bacterin made from the J-5 mutant of Escherichia coli O111:B4. The antiserum immunoglobulin G titer to J-5 mutant E coli, as determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, was 1:15,006. Pooled serum prepared before inoculation (preimmune serum) had a J-5 immunoglobulin G titer of 1:350. The J-5 antiserum was tested for its protective efficacy in sublethal endotoxemia in 14 horses. Four horses served as nontreated controls and were given nothing before endotoxin challenge exposure (10 mic...
Joint report of the Third International Workshop on Lymphocyte Alloantigens of the Horse, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, 25-27 April 1984. The Third International Workshop on Lymphocyte Alloantigens of the Horse was held on 25-27 April 1984 in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Twelve laboratories from five countries participated. The principal purpose of this Workshop was to determine the phenotypic and gene frequencies of the 10 equine lymphocyte antigens (ELA) and a non-ELA lymphocyte antigen, ELY-2.1, in several breeds of horse. A total of 86 alloantisera characterized in previous workshops were tested against lymphocytes from 1179 horses. In addition, several experimental antisera were also tested against the same panel of lympho...
Characteristics of cells derived from the girdle region of the pre-implantation blastocyst of the donkey. The establishment of a monolayer culture of cells derived from the girdle region of a 34-day-old donkey conceptus is described. These cells have had over 100 repeated passages in culture. Low levels of pregnant mares' serum gonadotrophin (PMSG, eCG) could be detected in the cells by indirect immunofluorescence using some monoclonal anti-eCG antibodies, but the cells did not secrete eCG as measured by radioimmunoassay or inhibition of haemagglutination. There was marked nuclear polymorphism with binucleate and occasional multinucleate cells. The cells were strongly reactive with wheatgerm agglu...
Properties of monospecific antibodies to the glycoprotein of western equine encephalitis virus. Monospecific (MSp-) antisera against E1 and E2 glycoproteins of western equine encephalitis (WEE) virus were prepared and examined for binding activities to whole virions, hemagglutination-inhibition (HI), neutralization (NT) and protection. Both anti-E1 and anti-E2 MSp-Abs protected mice against WEE virus challenge. A competition experiment with monoclonal antibodies showed that these MSp-antisera appear to lack the antibody population for some epitopes involved in viral neutralization.
Anti-lipopolysaccharide toxin therapy for whole body X-irradiation overdose. Death in humans from ionising radiation overexposure in the 3-8 Gy (300-800 rad) range is in part due to the toxaemia caused by the entry of gram-negative bacteria and/or their lipopolysaccharide toxin (LPS) into the blood circulation through the walls of partially denuded gut. Anti-LPS hyperimmune equine plasma was evaluated for its ability to lower irradiation-induced lethality. Mice were irradiated with 6.3 Gy (630 rad) and six days later received equine Anti-LPS hyperimmune plasma, control plasma or saline. Mortalities in the three groups were 58%, 92% and 79% (p less than 0.01) respective...
Experimental reproduction of Potomac horse fever in horses with a newly isolated Ehrlichia organism. Potomac horse fever, a recently recognized disease of equines, characterized by high fever, leukopenia, and a profuse diarrhea, was studied for its etiology. An Ehrlichia organism was isolated in equine macrophage-fibroblast cell cultures and mouse macrophage cell cultures from the mononuclear cells of blood of infected horses. The agent was continuously propagated in mouse macrophage cell cultures. The organism multiplied in the cytoplasm of mouse macrophage cells and was identified by Giemsa staining, acridine orange staining, and by indirect immunofluorescence with convalescent sera from in...
Immunologically reactive proteins of Streptococcus equi. Immunologically reactive proteins in acid extracts and culture supernatants of Streptococcus equi were recognized through a combination of chromatographic and immunologic procedures. Both high- and low-molecular-weight components of each of these protein preparations were protective for mice and were, therefore, presumed to contain a variety of hydrolytic products or fragments of the M protein of S. equi. Convalescent horse sera that exhibited strong bactericidal activity for S. equi always reacted with polypeptides in the molecular weight range of 24,000 to 29,000, whereas preinfection sera d...
Application of the peroxidase-antiperoxidase procedure to the localization of pituitary hormones and calcitonin in various domestic animals and human beings. Specific cell populations in the pituitary glands of the rat, cat, pig, and human being were positive for thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). When reacted with prediluted rabbit anti-human TSH, LH, and FSH, antisera were not positive for the demonstration of these hormones in the horse, cow, or dog. Immunocytochemical staining was obtained in the horse, cow, and dog by the use of a primary antiserum against a specific beta-subunit of bovine TSH. The immunocytochemical staining of TSH, LH, FSH, adrenocorticotropic hormone, growth ...
Isolation, experimental transmission, and characterization of causative agent of Potomac horse fever. Potomac horse fever, a disease characterized by fever, anorexia, leukopenia, and occasional diarrhea, is fatal in approximately 30 percent of affected animals. The seasonal occurrence of the disease (June to October) and evidence of antibodies to the rickettsia Ehrlichia sennetsu in the serum of convalescing horses suggested that a related rickettsia might be the causative agent. Such an agent was isolated in cultured blood monocytes from an experimentally infected pony. This intracytoplasmic organism was adapted to growth in primary cultures of canine blood monocytes. A healthy pony inoculate...
Radioimmunoassay of 19 nor testosterone. Evidence of its secretion by the testis of the stallion. Antiserum has been raised in rabbits treated with a 19 nor testosterone-hemisuccinate-bovine-serum-albumin conjugate and used for the development of a specific RIA of plasma 19 nor testosterone. Plasma samples are drawn from testicular and jugular veins of stallions during castration under general anesthesia. Results demonstrate a testicular secretion of 19 nor testosterone and a stress inhibition of this secretion correlatively with stress inhibition of testosterone secretion.
Antibody to equi factor(s) in the diagnosis of Corynebacterium equi pneumonia of foals. Antibody to equi factor(s) in cases of Corynebacterium equi pneumonia in foals was detected using C. pseudotuberculosis exotoxin sensitized calf red blood cells. The test was standardized using antitoxin produced in rabbits by injection of equi factor(s). All sera from ten foals with culture-diagnosed C. equi pneumonia had antibodies to equi factor(s) (titre range 8-256, mean 74.0) and nine sera from 11 foals with suspected C. equi pneumonia also showed antibodies (titre range 4-512, mean 136.4). Two of five pneumonia foals with transtracheal aspirate cultures not yielding C. equi had such ant...
Antitoxin levels in botulism patients treated with trivalent equine botulism antitoxin to toxin types A, B, and E. Serum levels of equine-botulism antitoxin to toxin types A, B, and E were measured in four type-A botulism patients who had received equine-botulism antitoxin. High circulating levels capable of neutralizing in excess of 1 X 10(8), 9 X 10(7), and 6 X 10(6) 50% mouse lethal doses of toxin of types A, B, and E, respectively, were detected. There was little depletion of type-A antitoxin even though two of the patients had circulating type-A toxin before treatment. The half-life for antitoxin persistence for one patient was calculated as being 6.5, 7.6, and 5.3 days for antitoxin types A, B, and E...
Antigenic variation during persistent infection by equine infectious anemia virus, a retrovirus. The recurrent nature of equine infectious anemia has been attributed to relatively rapid antigenic variations in equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) during persistent infection under selective immune pressures. This model was tested by serological and biochemical analysis of virus isolates recovered from separate febrile episodes in two experimentally infected ponies. Neutralization assays employing immune sera from the experimentally infected ponies demonstrated that distinct antigenic strains of virus predominate during sequential febrile episodes in a single pony. Analysis of the test str...
Active immunization of prepubertal colts against estrogens: hormonal and testicular responses after puberty. Prepubertal Quarter horse colts were immunized at 6 mo of age with either estrone-17-oxime-bovine serum albumin (n = 4; treated) or with albumin only (n = 5; controls). All colts received booster injections of the appropriate antigen at 8, 10, 12, 16 and 20 mo of age. Blood samples were drawn every 20 d from 6 to 26 mo of age; body weights were determined monthly. Immunization against estrone-albumin resulted in increased binding of [3H]-estradiol in serum within 40 d that was maintained through 24 mo of age. Antisera from treated colts crossreacted equally well with estrone and estradiol and ...
Natural protease inhibitors: qualitative and quantitative assay by fibrinogen-agarose electrophoresis. An electrophoretic procedure for the qualitative and quantitative assay of protein protease inhibitors is reported. This assay is particularly suited for investigations of crude biological materials when specific antisera are not available. The supporting medium consists of agarose into which denatured fibrinogen is incorporated as the substrate for proteases. The processing then is divided into two steps: (1) electrophoretic resolution of the inhibitor containing material and (2) detection of the inhibitor bands through their protease inhibiting activity. The inhibitor position is thus made v...
Isolation and characteristics of an equine reovirus type 3 and an antibody prevalence survey to reoviruses in horses located in New York State. Reoviruses have been isolated from a number of species including human, bovine, feline, canine and equine. In most species they seem to produce mild to inapparent disease. We have isolated a reovirus type 3 from a foal with diarrhea. The virus designated the Ralph strain has been propagated in both the MA-104 and A-72 cell lines. The strain produced cytoplasmic inclusion bodies in these cell cultures. Tissue-cultured virus fixed complement in the presence of reovirus antibodies, but failed to do so in the presence of rotavirus antiserum. By electron microscopy the viral particle measured +/- 6...
Lymphocyte alloantigens of the horse. III. ELY-2.1: a lymphocyte alloantigen not coded for by the MHC. A new polymorphic locus of the horse which has several unusual properties is described. The suggested name for the locus is ELY-2. The gene product of one allele at this locus, designated ELY-2.1, has been identified with antisera raised as a result of pregnancy. Antibody to ELY-2.1 was first detected on day 55 after conception in the serum of a mare in first pregnancy. This early onset of antibody is similar to that seen for antibody to ELA antigens, and suggests that the source of the antigenic stimulus may be the tissue of the equine endometrial cups. The antisera identifying ELY-2.1 are cy...
The use of equine anti-endotoxin hyperimmune serum in the treatment of septic arthritis in foals. Three thoroughbred foals were treated with anti-endotoxin hyperimmune serum. The serum was injected into the affected joint spaces. Two of the foals made a complete recovery.