Immunization in horses involves the administration of vaccines to stimulate an immune response, thereby providing protection against specific infectious diseases. Vaccines commonly used in equine medicine include those for equine influenza, tetanus, and West Nile virus. The process of immunization aims to prepare the horse's immune system to recognize and combat pathogens upon exposure. Vaccination schedules and protocols may vary based on factors such as age, health status, and regional disease prevalence. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the mechanisms, efficacy, and considerations of immunization practices in equine health.
Gordon S, Bolwell C, Rogers C, Guthrie A, Magunda F, Hove P.A study of the prevalence of African horse sickness in horses was conducted, using records from two private equine practices in Harare for the period 1998-2004. Results indicated a higher prevalence of the disease in horses in Zimbabwe in the late rainy season (March - May). Age of the horse was found to be a significant risk factor, with foals or yearlings appearing to be 1.80 times more likely to contract the disease compared with horses older than two years. The case fatality rate in foals or yearlings was also higher than in older age groups, but this difference was not significant. The va...
Paillot R, Prowse L, Montesso F, Stewart B, Jordon L, Newton JR, Gilkerson JR.Equine influenza (EI) is a major respiratory disease of horses. Recent outbreaks of EI have demonstrated the ease with which EI virus (EIV) can be transmitted internationally. This study aimed to improve our understanding of EIV shedding after infection of vaccinated horses, which would inform possible changes to current quarantine requirements. Our objectives were to compare commonly used diagnostic tests and to evaluate the relative merits of nasal and nasopharyngeal swabs for detection of EIV in vaccinated and unvaccinated ponies following EIV infection and to use these data to inform optim...
Lelli R, Molini U, Ronchi GF, Rossi E, Franchi P, Ulisse S, Armillotta G, Capista S, Khaiseb S, Di Ventura M, Pini A.African horse sickness (AHS) is a non-contagious viral disease of solipeds transmitted by Culicoides. The disease is endemic in most African countries. Past experience has shown that Italy is a country exposed to emerging infectious diseases endemic to Africa; an incursion of AHS virus together with the widespread presence of Culicoides vectors could be the cause of a serious epidemic emergency. A live attenuated vaccine containing seven of the nine viral serotypes, serotype 5 and 9 are excluded, is commercially available from Onderstepoort Biological Products. However, the use of live vaccine...
Magori K, Park AW.The emergence and spread of mutant pathogens that evade the effects of prophylactic interventions, including vaccines, threatens our ability to control infectious diseases globally. Imperfect vaccines (e.g. those used against influenza), while not providing life-long immunity, confer protection by reducing a range of pathogen life-history characteristics; conversely, mutant pathogens can gain an advantage by restoring the same range of traits in vaccinated hosts. Using an SEIR model motivated by equine influenza, we investigate the evolutionary consequences of alternative types of imperfect va...
Guidolin FR, Tambourgi DV, Guidolin R, Marcelino JR, Okamoto CK, Magnoli FC, Queiroz GP, Dias da Silva W.Crotalus durissus terrificus, C. d. collilineatus, C. d. cascavella and C. d. marajoensis are responsible minor but severe snake bites in Brazil. The venoms of these snakes share the presence of crotoxin, a neurotoxin comprising of two associated components, crotapotin and phospholipase A2 (PLA2). Treatment of the victims with specific antiserum is the unique effective therapeutic measure. The ability of anti-Crotalus antisera produced by the routine using crude venom to immunize horses or purified crotoxin and PLA2 as individual immunogens was compared. Antisera obtained from horses immunized...
Andoh K, Takasugi M, Mahmoud HY, Hattori S, Terada Y, Noguchi K, Shimoda H, Bannai H, Tsujimura K, Matsumura T, Kondo T, Maeda K.A major immunogenic region of equine herpesvirus (EHV)-1 glycoprotein E (gE) was identified. Firstly, the various fragments of EHV-1 gE were expressed as fusion proteins with glutathione S-transferase (GST) in Escherichia coli and their antigenicities were compared by immunoblot analysis using sera from horses experimentally infected with EHV-1. Thirty-three amino acids of gE (a.a. 169-201) specifically and sensitively reacted with the antibodies induced by EHV-1 but not EHV-4 infection. The corresponding region of EHV-4 gE (a.a. 169-199) did not react with antibodies to EHV-1, indicating that...
Artiushin S, Timoney JF, Fettinger M, Fallon L, Rathgeber R.Enterocolitis caused by Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is a serious, sometimes fatal, disease of neonatal foals and older horses. Toxins A and B (TcdA and B) produced by C. difficile are important virulence factors. Immunisation of mares with receptor binding domains of toxins may prevent or reduce the severity of C. difficile colitis in foals. Objective: To determine whether antibodies generated in the pregnant mare to the binding regions of TcdA and B will neutralise TcdA and B toxicity. Methods: Sequences encoding the binding domains of each toxin were isolated by PCR amplification fr...
Villalta M, Pla D, Yang SL, Sanz L, Segura A, Vargas M, Chen PY, Herrera M, Estrada R, Cheng YF, Lee CD, Cerdas M, Chiang JR, Angulo Y, León G....The proteomes of the venoms of the snakes Viridovipera stejnegeri and Protobothrops mucrosquamatus from Taiwan were characterized by N-terminal sequencing, MALDI-TOF mass fingerprinting, and collision-induced dissociation tandem mass spectrometry of in-gel generated tryptic peptides. Proteins belonging to the following toxin classes were identified: metalloproteinase, phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)), serine proteinase, C-type lectin-like, CRISP, l-amino acid oxidase, disintegrin, and peptides (vasoactive and inhibitors of SVMPs). Nine horses were immunized with a mixture of these venoms. All horse...
Rodrigues MA, Figueiredo L, Padrela L, Cadete A, Tiago J, Matos HA, Gomes de Azevedo E, Florindo HF, Gonçalves LM, Almeida AJ.Strangles is an extremely contagious and sometimes deadly disease of the Equidae. The development of an effective vaccine should constitute an important asset to eradicate this worldwide infectious disease. In this work, we address the development of a mucosal vaccine by using a Supercritical Enhanced Atomization (SEA) spray-drying technique. Aqueous solutions containing the Streptococcus equi extracts and chitosan were converted into nanospheres with no use of organic solvents. The immune response in a mouse model showed that the nanospheres induced a well-balanced Th1 and Th2 response charac...
Witkowski L, Kaba J, Rzewuska M, Nowicki M, Szaluś-Jordanow O, Kita J.Rhodococcus equi infection occurs worldwide and is one of the major causes of losing foals in the first six months of life. The application of serological tests in the diagnostics of rhodococcosis is limited, however they play a crucial role in immunological studies. The objective of this study was to develop and standardize ELISA test for the determination of the level of antibodies against Rhodococcus equi in equine serum and colostrum.Bacterial cell lysate was used as antigen. The test was standardized on 175 sera obtained from adult horses kept on rhodococcosis-free and endemic farms. Posi...
Zhang J, Go YY, Huang CM, Meade BJ, Lu Z, Snijder EJ, Timoney PJ, Balasuriya UB.A stable full-length cDNA clone of the modified live virus (MLV) vaccine strain of equine arteritis virus (EAV) was developed. RNA transcripts generated from this plasmid (pEAVrMLV) were infectious upon transfection into mammalian cells, and the resultant recombinant virus (rMLV) had 100% nucleotide identity to the parental MLV vaccine strain of EAV. A single silent nucleotide substitution was introduced into the nucleocapsid gene (pEAVrMLVB), enabling the cloned vaccine virus (rMLVB) to be distinguished from parental MLV vaccine as well as other field and laboratory strains of EAV by using an...
El Garch H, Crafford JE, Amouyal P, Durand PY, Edlund Toulemonde C, Lemaitre L, Cozette V, Guthrie A, Minke JM.A recombinant canarypox virus vectored vaccine co-expressing synthetic genes encoding outer capsid proteins, VP2 and VP5, of African horse sickness virus (AHSV) serotype 4 (ALVAC(®)-AHSV4) has been demonstrated to fully protect horses against homologous challenge with virulent field virus. Guthrie et al. (2009) detected weak and variable titres of neutralizing antibody (ranging from <10 to 40) 8 weeks after vaccination leading us to hypothesize that there could be a participation of cell mediated immunity (CMI) in protection against AHSV4. The present study aimed at characterizing the CMI ind...
Weyer CT, Quan M, Joone C, Lourens CW, MacLachlan NJ, Guthrie AJ.To determine whether subclinical cases, together with clinical cases, of African horse sickness (AHS) occur in immunised horses in field conditions, whole blood samples were collected and rectal temperatures recorded weekly from 50 Nooitgedacht ponies resident in open camps at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, during 2008-2010. The samples were tested for the presence of African horse sickness virus (AHSV) RNA by a recently developed real-time RT-PCR. It was shown that 16% of immunised horses in an AHS endemic area were infected with AHSV over a 2 year p...
Schulman ML, Botha AE, Muenscher SB, Annandale CH, Guthrie AJ, Bertschinger HJ.Active immunisation against gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) provides a reversible method for control of oestrous behaviour and fertility in mares. Previous reports failed to demonstrate the interval to resumption of cyclic ovarian activity after GnRH-vaccination. Objective: Administration of the GnRH-vaccine Improvac in a large group of mares of various ages will result in effective, reliably reversible suppression of ovarian activity within a 2 year period. Methods: The mares, subdivided into 3 age categories, were vaccinated twice (with a 35 day interval) using 400 µg Improvac and mo...
Li D, Mattoo P, Keller JE.Hyperimmune monovalent antitoxins to botulinum neurotoxin serotypes A and B have been produced by immunizing horses with newly developed formalin toxoids. After primary immunization, horses developed acceptable prophylactic antibody titers (1-5 IU/mL). Three horses received additional toxoid booster injections to induce hyperimmune antibody titers with antitoxin-A and antitoxin-B titers reaching peaks of approximately 2000 IU/mL and 150-625 IU/mL, respectively. Titers were quantified throughout the process by antigen-capture ELISA and by in-vivo neutralization. ELISA titers and neutralization ...
Pusterla N, Vannucci FA, Mapes SM, Nogradi N, Collier JR, Hill JA, Difrancesco M, White AM, Akana NK, Simonek G, Gebhart CJ.To determine the efficacy of an avirulent Lawsonia intracellularis vaccine in preventing proliferative enteropathy in weanling foals. Methods: 12 healthy weanling foals. Methods: Foals were randomly assigned to a vaccinated, nonvaccinated, or control group. Vaccinated foals received an avirulent porcine L intracellularis frozen-thawed vaccine intrarectally 60 and 30 days prior to experimental challenge. On day 1, vaccinated and nonvaccinated foals were challenged via nasogastric intubation with a virulent heterologous isolate of L intracellularis. Control foals were not challenged. Clinical ob...
Tonkin DR, Whitmore A, Johnston RE, Barro M.Replicon particles derived from Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEE) are infectious non-propagating particles which act as a safe and potent systemic, mucosal, and cellular adjuvant when delivered with antigen. VEE and VEE replicon particles (VRP) can target multiple cell types including dendritic cells (DCs). The role of these cell types in VRP adjuvant activity has not been previously evaluated, and for these studies we focused on the contribution of DCs to the response to VRP. By analysis of VRP targeting in the draining lymph node, we found that VRP induced rapid recruitment of TNF-s...
Ronchi GF, Ulisse S, Rossi E, Franchi P, Armillotta G, Capista S, Peccio A, Di Ventura M, Pini A.Monovalent, inactivated and adjuvanted vaccines against African horse sickness, prepared with serotypes 5 and 9, were tested on guinea-pigs to select the formulation that offered the greatest immunity. The final formulation of the vaccines took into account the immune response in the guinea-pig and the inflammatory properties of two types of adjuvant previously tested on target animals. A pilot study was subsequently conducted on horses using a vaccine prepared with serotype 9. The vaccine stimulated neutralising antibodies from the first administration and, after the booster dose, 28 days lat...
Ault A, Zajac AM, Kong WP, Gorres JP, Royals M, Wei CJ, Bao S, Yang ZY, Reedy SE, Sturgill TL, Page AE, Donofrio-Newman J, Adams AA, Balasuriya UB....Equine influenza A (H3N8) virus infection is a leading cause of respiratory disease in horses, resulting in widespread morbidity and economic losses. As with influenza in other species, equine influenza strains continuously mutate, often requiring the development of new vaccines. Current inactivated (killed) vaccines, while efficacious, only offer limited protection against diverse subtypes and require frequent boosts. Research into new vaccine technologies, including gene-based vaccines, aims to increase the neutralization potency, breadth, and duration of protective immunity. Here, we demons...
Pretorius A, Van Kleef M, Van Wyngaardt W, Heath J.African horsesickness (AHS) is an infectious but noncontagious viral disease affecting all species of Equidae. The recall immune response of AHSV naïve horses immunised with an attenuated African horsesickness virus serotype 4 (AHSV4) was characterised using immune assays including ELISPOT, real-time PCR (qPCR) and flow cytometry. The recall immune response detected in PBMC isolated from three inoculated horses showed an upregulation of circulating B lymphocytes that correlated with elevated IL-4 mRNA expression indicative of humoral immunity, but reduced frequency of CD4⁺ cells. In additio...
Current drug deliveryJanuary 31, 2012
Volume 9, Issue 6 637-644 doi: 10.2174/156720112803529747
da Costa MH, Sant'Anna OA, Quintilio W, Schwendener RA, de Araujo PS.Liposomes have been used since the 1970's to encapsulate drugs envisaging enhancement in efficacy and therapeutic index, avoidance of side effects and increase in the encapsulated agent stability. The major problem when encapsulating snake venoms is the liposomal membrane instability caused by venom phospholipases. Here the results obtained encapsulating Crotalus durissimus terrificus and a pool of Bothropic venoms within liposomes (LC and LB, respectively) used to produce anti-venom sera are presented. The strategy was to modify the immunization protocol to enhance antibody production and to ...
Mealey RH, Kappmeyer LS, Ueti MW, Wagner B, Knowles DP.Theileria equi immune plasma was infused into young horses (foals) with severe combined immunodeficiency. Although all foals became infected following intravenous challenge with homologous T. equi merozoite stabilate, delayed time to peak parasitemia occurred. Protective effects were associated with a predominance of passively transferred merozoite-specific IgG3.
Goodyear A, Troyer R, Bielefeldt-Ohmann H, Dow S.The Gram-negative bacterium Burkholderia mallei causes rapidly fatal illness in equines and humans when contracted by inhalation and also has the potential to be used as a bioweapon. However, little is known regarding the early innate immune responses and signaling mechanisms required to generate protection from pneumonic B. mallei infection. We showed previously that monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) was a critical chemokine required for protection from pneumonic B. mallei infection. We have now extended those studies to identify key Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling pathways, effec...
Cauchard S, Bermúdez-Humarán LG, Blugeon S, Laugier C, Langella P, Cauchard J.Rhodococcus equi causes severe pneumonia in foals and has recently gained attention as a significant opportunistic pathogen in immunocompromised humans. However, no effective vaccine to prevent rhodococcosis is currently available. In this study, we have engineered the food-grade bacterium Lactococcus lactis to secrete the virulence-associated protein A from R. equi (LL-VapA). The immunogenic potential of LL-VapA strain was then evaluated after either intragastric or intranasal immunization in mice either alone or in combination with LL-Lep, a recombinant strain of L. lactis secreting biologic...
Hainisch EK, Brandt S, Shafti-Keramat S, Van den Hoven R, Kirnbauer R.Infection with bovine papillomaviruses types 1 and 2 (BPV-1, BPV-2) can lead to the development of therapy-resistant skin tumours termed sarcoids and possibly other skin diseases in equids. Although sarcoids seriously compromise the welfare of affected animals and cause considerable economic losses, no prophylactic vaccine is available to prevent this common disease. In several animal species and man, immunisation with papillomavirus-like particles (VLP) has been shown to protect efficiently from papillomaviral infection. Objective: BPV-1 L1 VLPs may constitute a safe and highly immunogenic va...
van der Geize R, Grommen AW, Hessels GI, Jacobs AA, Dijkhuizen L.Rhodococcus equi causes fatal pyogranulomatous pneumonia in foals and immunocompromised animals and humans. Despite its importance, there is currently no effective vaccine against the disease. The actinobacteria R. equi and the human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis are related, and both cause pulmonary diseases. Recently, we have shown that essential steps in the cholesterol catabolic pathway are involved in the pathogenicity of M. tuberculosis. Bioinformatic analysis revealed the presence of a similar cholesterol catabolic gene cluster in R. equi. Orthologs of predicted M. tuberculosis vi...
Minke JM, El-Hage CM, Tazawa P, Homer D, Lemaitre L, Cozette V, Gilkerson JR, Kirkland PD.The results of an accelerated immunisation schedule for horses used as part of the emergency response plan to contain and eradicate equine influenza in Australia in 2007 is described. The horses studied were vaccinated with a recombinant canarypox-vectored vaccine (ProteqFlu®, Merial) with a shorter interdose interval. Vaccinated horses included foals aged less than 4 months.
Nogradi N, Slovis NM, Gebhart CJ, Wolfsdorf KE, McCracken JL, Scoggin CF, Kass PH, Mapes SM, Toth B, Lundquist ML, Pusterla N.Equine proliferative enteropathy caused by Lawsonia intracellularis is an emerging disease with as yet unaddressed preventative measures. The hypothesis of this study was that vaccination will prevent clinical and sub-clinical disease. Weanling Thoroughbreds (n=202) from Central Kentucky were randomly assigned into two groups (vaccinated and non-vaccinated). Vaccinated foals received 30 mL of an avirulent, live L. intracellularis vaccine intra-rectally twice, 30 days apart. Foals were monitored for clinical disease, total solids and average weight gain until yearling age. There was an overall ...
Pallister J, Middleton D, Wang LF, Klein R, Haining J, Robinson R, Yamada M, White J, Payne J, Feng YR, Chan YP, Broder CC.The henipaviruses, Hendra virus (HeV) and Nipah virus (NiV), are two deadly zoonotic viruses for which no vaccines or therapeutics have yet been approved for human or livestock use. In 14 outbreaks since 1994 HeV has been responsible for multiple fatalities in horses and humans, with all known human infections resulting from close contact with infected horses. A vaccine that prevents virus shedding in infected horses could interrupt the chain of transmission to humans and therefore prevent HeV disease in both. Here we characterise HeV infection in a ferret model and show that it closely mirror...
Pavulraj S, Virmani N, Bera BC, Joshi A, Anand T, Virmani M, Singh R, Singh RK, Tripathi BN.Equine influenza viruses (EIVs) are responsible for acute contagious respiratory infection in equines and the disease remains a major threat for equine population throughout the world despite vaccination strategies in place. The present study was aimed to assess the suitability of BALB/c mice as a potential small animal model for preliminary screening of EI vaccine candidates. For this, we evaluated the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of an inactivated EIV (H3N8) vaccine in BALB/c mouse model after challenge with homologous H3N8 virus (Clade 2 virus, Florida sublineage) through serology...
Cornick J, Martens J, Martens R, Crandell R, McConnell S, Kit S.A drug induced equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) mutant lacking thymidine kinase inducing activity was developed and evaluated as a vaccine. The safety and effectiveness of the vaccine to protect against experimentally induced EHV-1 respiratory disease were evaluated in weanling horses free of EHV-1 neutralizing antibody. The vaccine was safe when administered either intramuscularly or intravenously, and EHV-1 was not shed intranasally during the 12 days following administration. Intranasal challenge with virulent EHV-1 was used to evaluate vaccine efficacy. Following challenge, there was a signifi...
Olsen CW, McGregor MW, Dybdahl-Sissoko N, Schram BR, Nelson KM, Lunn DP, Macklin MD, Swain WF, Hinshaw VS.Two fundamentally different approaches to vaccination of BALB/c mice with the hemagglutinin (HA) of A/Equine/Kentucky/1/81 (H3N8) (Eq/KY) were evaluated, that is, administration of HA protein vs administration of HA-encoding DNA. Each vaccine was tested for its immunogenicity and ability to provide protection from homologous virus challenge. HA protein was synthesized in vitro by infection of Sf21 insect cells with a recombinant baculovirus. Intranasal administration of this vaccine induced virus-specific antibodies, as measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), but did not induce ...
Sheoran AS, Artiushin S, Timoney JF.The intranasal immunogenicity of cholera toxin (CT) genetically coupled to peptide sequence aa236-334 (F3) of the SeM protein of Streptococcus equi was studied in five young adult Welsh ponies. All ponies made rapid CTB- and SeMF3-specific serum antibody responses following the first immunization. Specific nasal IgA responses were detected in two ponies 14 days after the first immunization, in another two 14 days after a second immunization on day 14, and in all ponies 28 days after a third immunization on day 42. SeMF3-specific antibody responses in sera and nasal washes were dominated by IgG...
Rossi SL, Russell-Lodrigue KE, Plante KS, Bergren NA, Gorchakov R, Roy CJ, Weaver SC.Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) is a re-emerging virus of human, agriculture, and bioweapon threat importance. No FDA-approved treatment is available to combat Venezuelan equine encephalitis in humans, prompting the need to create a vaccine that is safe, efficacious, and cannot be replicated in the mosquito vector. Here we describe the use of a serotype ID VEEV (ZPC-738) vaccine with an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) to alter gene expression patterns. This ZPC/IRES vaccine was genetically engineered in two ways based on the position of the IRES insertion to create a vaccine th...
Rhiner T, Fettelschoss V, Schoster A, Birkmann K, Fettelschoss-Gabriel A.Previously, virus-like particle (VLP)-based self-vaccinations targeting interleukin (IL)-5 or IL-31 have been suggested to treat equine insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH), a seasonal recurrent allergic dermatitis in horses. The IL-5-targeting equine vaccine significantly reduced blood eosinophil counts in horses, similar to human monoclonal antibodies targeting IL-5 or the IL-5 receptor alpha (IL-5Rα). Previous studies in humans have also reported an additional effect on reduction of basophil counts. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether an equine anti-IL-5 vaccine affected blo...
Tabynov K, Kydyrbayev Z, Ryskeldinova S, Assanzhanova N, Kozhamkulov Y, Inkarbekov D, Sansyzbay A.To design and evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of a modified-live vaccine to prevent equine influenza virus (EIV) infection based on the novel reassortant cold-adapted strain A/HK/Otar/6:2/2010. Methods: Surface proteins (HA, NA) from the wild-type strain A/equine/Otar/764/2007 (H3N8) and internal proteins (PB2, PB1, PA, NP, M, NS) from the attenuated cold-adapted donor strain A/Hong Kong/1/68/162/35CA (H3N2) were included in the vaccine. Horses were administered 10(9.2) EID50 /mL of the modified-live vaccine or saline solution using a nasal spray. The clinical condition of the animals w...
Sifi A, Adi-Bessalem S, Laraba-Djebari F.Antivenom treatment has been largely used against scorpion stings. Despite their efficacy, the use of mammalian antivenoms may cause adverse effects due to the immune system activation. IgYs from hyperimmunized laying hens against venoms could be a promising alternative to equine IgGs due to the various benefits that these antibodies can provide. Here we report the preparation of specific IgYs by immunizing laying hens with Aah (Androctonus australis hector) scorpion venom. IgYs were isolated from egg yolks by water dilution and salt precipitation methods; they were characterized by sodium dod...
Furusawa Y, Yamada S, Itai S, Sano M, Nakamura T, Yanaka M, Handa S, Mizuno T, Maeda K, Fukui M, Harada H, Kaneko MK, Kato Y.Podoplanin (PDPN), a type I transmembrane glycoprotein, is expressed in several body tissues, including podocytes of renal glomerulus, type I alveolar cells of lung, and lymphatic endothelial cells. PDPN activates platelet aggregation by binding to C-type lectin-like receptor-2 (CLEC-2) presented on platelets. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against human-, mouse-, rat-, rabbit-, dog-, bovine-, and cat-PDPN have already been established. However, anti-horse PDPN mAbs have not yet been developed. In this study, we immunized mice with synthetic horse PDPN peptides and developed anti-horse PDPN mAbs...
Thompson MK, Fridy PC, Keegan S, Chait BT, Fenyö D, Rout MP.Antibodies made in large animals are integral to many biomedical research endeavors. Domesticated herd animals like goats, sheep, donkeys, horses and camelids all offer distinct advantages in antibody production. However, their cost of use is often prohibitive, especially where poor antigen response is commonplace; choosing a non-responsive animal can set a research program back or even prevent experiments from moving forward entirely. Over the course of production of antibodies from llamas, we found that some animals consistently produced a higher humoral antibody response than others, even t...
Navarro D, Vargas M, Herrera M, Segura Á, Gómez A, Villalta M, Ramírez N, Williams D, Gutiérrez JM, León G.A chicken-derived antivenom (ChDAv) towards taipan snake (Oxyuranus scutellatus) venom was produced by purifying anti-taipan IgY from egg yolks of hens immunized with taipan venom. The productivity, antivenomic profile, neutralization ability, pharmacokinetic properties and immunogenicity of the ChDAv were compared with those of an antivenom produced in horses (EDAv). We found that 382 eggs are required to produce the mass of anti-taipan antibodies contained in one liter of equine hyperimmune plasma, and that 63 chickens would be needed to generate the amount of anti-taipan antibodies annually...
Rocha-Campos AC, Gonçalves LR, Higashi HG, Yamagushi IK, Fernandes I, Oliveira JE, Ribela MT, Sousa-E-Silva MC, da Silva WD.Contact with Lonomia obliqua caterpillars results in a bleeding syndrome characterized by hemorrhage and blood coagulation disturbances. Conventional therapy using antifibrinolytics or cryoprecipitates has been unable to treat pathophysiologic alterations. As antivenoms are effective therapy for treatment of victims of venomous animals, a process of manufacturing a specific antilonomic serum by immunizing horses with Lonomia caterpillar bristle extracts (LBE) was developed. Lonomia caterpillar bristle extracts exhibited several protein bands on SDS-PAGE, induced blood coagulation abnormalities...
Harry TO, McCollum WH.The Bucyrus strain of equine arteritis virus, previously modified to avirulence and vaccinal virus by 131 serial passages in primary cell cultures of horse kidney followed by 111 passages in primary cell cultures of rabbit kidney, was further passaged in cultures of the E. Derm (NBL-6) cell line, a continuous diploid cell line. Pools of the 16th and 25th passages of the virus in this last equine dermal cell line were lyophilized and stored in lots at 37 C, 23 to 28 C, 4C, and -20 C. The viability of the vaccinal virus deteriorated rapidly during storage at 37 C and at 23 to 28 C, but was relat...
Cursons R, Patty O, Steward KF, Waller AS.The differentiation of live attenuated vaccine strains from their progenitor and wild-type counterparts is important for ongoing surveillance of product safety and improved guidelines on their use. We utilised a genome sequencing approach to confirm that two cases of strangles in previously healthy horses that had received the Pinnacle I. N. vaccine (Zoetis) were caused by the vaccine strain. Our data shed new light on the safety of this vaccine and suggest that factors beyond the maturity of the animal's immune system influence the development of adverse reactions.
Soboll G, Nelson KM, Leuthner ES, Clark RJ, Drape R, Macklin MD, Swain WF, Olsen CW, Lunn DP.We have previously demonstrated that equine influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) DNA vaccination protects ponies from challenge infection, and induces protective IgGa and IgGb responses. However, this approach does not induce a nasal IgA response. The objective of this study was to examine the value of cholera toxin (CT) administration as an adjuvant for intranasal HA DNA vaccination, and to measure protection 3 months after DNA vaccination. After an immunogenic dose of CT was determined, ponies were immunized on two occasions by intranasal administration of HA DNA and cholera toxin, or HA DNA a...
Hampil B, Melnick JL.This paper summarizes the results of the second part of co-operative studies undertaken by the WHO International Reference Centre for Enteroviruses and a number of WHO Regional Virus Reference Centres, WHO Virus Collaborating Laboratories and other laboratories in a comprehensive testing programme of enterovirus equine antisera. The studies were designed to appraise the specificity of immune serum prepared in horses against 16 representative prototype enteroviruses (polioviruses 2 and 3, coxsackieviruses A7, B1, B2, B4, B5 and B6 and echoviruses 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12 and 17). Tests for neutrali...
Flock M, Karlström A, Lannergård J, Guss B, Flock JI.A mouse model resembling Streptococcus equi subspecies equi infection in the horse, strangles, was used to assess the protective effect of vaccination with selected recombinant proteins from S. equi subsp. equi. After challenge the infection was monitored by weight loss and by nasal colonisation with S. equi subsp. equi. Vaccination with a collagen-binding protein (CNE) and a collagen-like protein (SclC) resulted in protective antibodies, whereas a novel fibronectin-binding protein (FNEB) did not. Co-administration of CNE with EAG, a poorly immunogenic alpha2-macroglobulin-, albumin- and immun...
Mattil-Fritz S, Scharner D, Piuko K, Thönes N, Gissmann L, Müller H, Müller M.Equine sarcoids are fibrosarcoma-like skin tumours with a prevalence of approximately 1-2 %. Strong evidence exists for a causative role of bovine papillomavirus (BPV) type 1 or type 2 in the development of sarcoids. No effective treatment of equine sarcoid is available and after surgical excision relapse of the tumours is very frequent. We developed chimeric virus-like particles (CVLPs) of BPV 1 L1-E7 for the immunotherapy of equine sarcoid. In a phase I clinical trial 12 horses suffering from equine sarcoid with an average number of more than 22 tumours per animal were vaccinated in a dose-e...
MacLachlan NJ, Balasuriya UB, Davis NL, Collier M, Johnston RE, Ferraro GL, Guthrie AJ.Viral diseases constitute an ever growing threat to the horse industry worldwide because of the rapid movement of large numbers of horses for competition and breeding. A number of different types of vaccines are available for protective immunization of horses against viral diseases. Traditional inactivated and live-attenuated (modified live virus, MLV) virus vaccines remain popular and efficacious but recombinant vaccines are increasingly being developed and used, in part because of the perceived deficiencies of some existing products. New generation vaccines include MLVs with deletions and/or...
Prescott JF, Fernandez AS, Nicholson VM, Patterson MC, Yager JA, Viel L, Perkins G.An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed against Rhodococcus equi using Triton X-114 detergent extracted whole cell material, in which the virulence associated protein (VapA) predominated. Enzymelinked immunosorbent assay titres corresponded to antibody reacting with VapA on Western blots. There was considerable variation in antibody titres of nonimmunised mares and in the time when the colostrally derived antibody of their foals had declined to low or undetectable titres. In general, antibodies in foals declined to their lowest levels at age 4-8 weeks. Seroconversion occurre...
Donofrio G, Capocefalo A, Franceschi V, Morini G, Del Bue M, Conti V, Cavirani S, Grolli S.Adipose-Derived Stromal Cells have been shown to have multiple lineage differentiation properties and to be suitable for tissues regeneration in many degenerative processes. Their use has been proposed for the therapy of joint diseases and tendon injuries in the horse. In the present report the genetic manipulation of Equine Adipose-Derived Stromal Cells has been investigated. Results: Equine Adipose-Derived Stromal Cells were successfully virally transduced as well as transiently and stably transfected with appropriate parameters, without detrimental effect on their differentiation properties...
Yazdansetad S, Mosavari N, Tadayon K, Mehregan I.Burkholderia mallei is the leading cause of glanders, a highly transmittable and an OIE-notifiable disease of equidae. Despite the importance of B. mallei, little is known about serodiagnosis of glanders. The present study aimed to develop an immunoblotting assay based on whole-cell proteome of B. mallei to enable accurate serodiagnosis of glanders. Methods: Three farm horses were subcutaneously immunized with a crude suspension (106 cfu/ml) of heat-inactivated B. mallei formulated with incomplete Freund's adjuvant (IFA) to achieve a hyperimmune sera panel. The immunization was done for 1, 14 ...
Floyd RV, Mason SL, Proudman CJ, German AJ, Marples D, Mobasheri A.Aquaporins (AQPs) play fundamental roles in water and osmolyte homeostasis by facilitating water and small solute movement across plasma membranes of epithelial, endothelial, and other tissues. AQP proteins are abundantly expressed in the mammalian kidney, where they have been shown to play essential roles in fluid balance and urine concentration. Thus far, the majority of studies on renal AQPs have been carried out in laboratory rodents and sheep; no data have been published on the expression of AQPs in kidneys of equines or other large mammals. The aim of this comparative study was to determ...
Machang'u RS, Prescott JF.Rhodococcus equi produces two exoenzymes (REE), a cholesterol oxidase in large amounts and a phospholipase C, which cause lysis of sheep red blood cells (SRBC) sensitized with Staphylococcus aureus beta toxin. Two immunization studies were done in foals to determine the role of antibody to REE in protection against R. equi pneumonia. In the first study, three foals (mean age 10 days) were vaccinated four times at 2-week intervals with over 1 million units of partially purified exoenzymes (PREE). In the second study, three foals (mean age 19 days) were administered plasma from an adult horse va...
Fernandez AS, Prescott JF, Nicholson VM.IgG was purified from horses immunized with repeated doses of virulence associated (VapA) enriched antigens extracted with Triton X-114 from the surface of a virulent strain of R. equi. This IgG were administered to mice immunosuppressed by prior treatment with indomethacin. Mice administered the higher dose were completely protected against intraperitoneal infection with R. equi; mice given the lower dose were partially protected. By contrast, mice administered concentrated nonimmune equine IgG were not protected. This study demonstrates that VapA may be an important antigen involved in humor...
Wu F, Zhang S, Zhang Y, Mo R, Yan F, Wang H, Wong G, Chi H, Wang T, Feng N, Gao Y, Xia X, Zhao Y, Yang S.Ebola virus infections lead to severe hemorrhagic fevers in humans and nonhuman primates; and human fatality rates are as high as 67%-90%. Since the Ebola virus was discovered in 1976, the only available treatments have been medical support or the emergency administration of experimental drugs. The absence of licensed vaccines and drugs against the Ebola virus impedes the prevention of viral infection. In this study, we generated recombinant baculoviruses (rBV) expressing the Sudan virus (SUDV) matrix structural protein (VP40) (rBV-VP40-VP40) or the SUDV glycoprotein (GP) (rBV-GP-GP), and SUDV...
Giese M, Bahr U, Jakob NJ, Kehm R, Handermann M, Müller H, Vahlenkamp TH, Spiess C, Schneider TH, Schusse G, Darai G.Equine arteritis virus (EAV) is the causative agent of the equine viral arteritis. It is a small RNA virus with a linear, non-segmented plus RNA genome. EAV is a member of the Arteriviridae family that includes porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRSSV), simian haemorrhagic fever virus (SHFV) and lactate dehydrogenase virus (LDV). The viral transmission is via respiratory and reproductive routes. Clinical signs in horses vary, and severe infection can lead to abortions in pregnant mares or neonatal foal death. The aim of this study was to investigate the development of the imm...
