Evaluation of a commercially available hyperimmune plasma product for prevention of naturally acquired pneumonia caused by Rhodococcus equi in foals.
Abstract: To determine efficacy of a commercially available hyperimmune plasma product for prevention of naturally acquired pneumonia caused by Rhodococcus equi in foals. Methods: Randomized clinical trial. Methods: 165 foals. Methods: Foals were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups (hyperimmune plasma or nontreated controls). Foals with failure of passive transfer (FPT) of immunity were treated with hyperimmune plasma and evaluated as a third group. Foals that received plasma were given 950 ml between 1 and 10 days of age and between 30 and 50 days of age. A tracheobronchial aspirate was obtained from foals with clinical signs of respiratory tract disease for bacteriologic culture. Results: A significant difference in incidence of pneumonia caused by R equi in foals with adequate passive transfer was not detected between foals that received plasma (19.1%) and nontreated foals (30%). Of 13 foals without FPT that received plasma and developed pneumonia caused by R equi, 12 developed disease prior to administration of the second dose of hyperimmune plasma. Incidence of undifferentiated pneumonia of all causes was not different between groups. Conclusions: Intravenous administration of the commercially available hyperimmune plasma was safe, and the product contained high concentrations of anti-R equi antibodies. However, within this limited foal population, the difference in incidence of pneumonia caused by R equi observed between foals that received plasma and control foals was not significant.
Publication Date: 2003-04-12 PubMed ID: 12680449DOI: 10.2460/javma.2002.220.59Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Clinical Trial
- Journal Article
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Research Support
- Non-U.S. Gov't
Summary
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This is a study to evaluate how effective a commercial hyperimmune plasma product is at preventing pneumonia caused by the bacterium Rhodococcus equi in foals. The study found no significant difference in pneumonia incidence among foals given this plasma product compared to those untreated.
Methods
- The study was a randomized clinical trial involving 165 foals.
- These foals were divided into two groups. One group received hyperimmune plasma, while the other acted as nontreated controls.
- Foals with a failure of passive transfer (FPT) of immunity, meaning they did not receive sufficient antibodies from their mothers’ colostrum, were also treated with hyperimmune plasma and analyzed as a distinct group.
- The foals that received the plasma were treated with doses of 950 ml, once between when they were 1 to 10 days old and again when they were 30 to 50 days old.
- A tracheobronchial aspirate, a fluid sample from the respiratory tract, was obtained from any foals showing respiratory symptoms. This was then cultured for bacteria to confirm the presence of Rhodococcus equi.
Results
- The study found no significant difference in the incidence of R. equi-caused pneumonia between the foals given the plasma (19.1%) and the untreated control foals (30%).
- Of the 13 foals with FPT that received plasma and developed pneumonia, 12 did so before the administration of the second dose of hyperimmune plasma.
- The overall incidence of pneumonia from all causes did not differ between the two groups.
Conclusions
- The intravenous administration of the commercially available hyperimmune plasma product was deemed safe and was shown to contain high concentrations of anti-R. equi antibodies.
- However, in this particular group of foals, the difference in the occurrence of pneumonia caused by R. equi between those that received plasma and those left untreated was not significant.
The findings suggest that while this hyperimmune plasma product is safe and rich in anti-R. equi antibodies, it did not significantly reduce the incidence of R. equi-caused pneumonia within the sampled group of foals. The reasons for this weren’t outlined in the abstract, but it may require further research to better understand the effects of hyperimmune plasma on foals’ susceptibility to this bacterium.
Cite This Article
APA
Giguère S, Gaskin JM, Miller C, Bowman JL.
(2003).
Evaluation of a commercially available hyperimmune plasma product for prevention of naturally acquired pneumonia caused by Rhodococcus equi in foals.
J Am Vet Med Assoc, 220(1), 59-63.
https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.2002.220.59 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
MeSH Terms
- Actinomycetales Infections / immunology
- Actinomycetales Infections / prevention & control
- Actinomycetales Infections / veterinary
- Animals
- Antibodies, Bacterial / blood
- Antibodies, Bacterial / immunology
- Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / veterinary
- Horse Diseases / immunology
- Horse Diseases / prevention & control
- Horses
- Immunity, Maternally-Acquired
- Immunization, Passive / veterinary
- Pneumonia, Bacterial / immunology
- Pneumonia, Bacterial / prevention & control
- Pneumonia, Bacterial / veterinary
- Rhodococcus equi / immunology
- Rhodococcus equi / pathogenicity
Citations
This article has been cited 19 times.- Palmisano M, Javsicas L, McNaughten J, Gamsjäger L, Renaud DL, Gomez DE. Effect of plasma transfusion on serum amyloid A concentration in healthy neonatal foals and foals with failure of transfer of passive immunity.. J Vet Intern Med 2023 Mar;37(2):697-702.
- Kahn SK, Cywes-Bentley C, Blodgett GP, Canaday NM, Turner-Garcia CE, Flores-Ahlschwede P, Metcalfe LL, Nevill M, Vinacur M, Sutter PJ, Meyer SC, Bordin AI, Pier GB, Cohen ND. Randomized, controlled trial comparing Rhodococcus equi and poly-N-acetyl glucosamine hyperimmune plasma to prevent R equi pneumonia in foals.. J Vet Intern Med 2021 Nov;35(6):2912-2919.
- Kahn SK, Cywes-Bentley C, Blodgett GP, Canaday NM, Turner-Garcia CE, Vinacur M, Cortez-Ramirez SC, Sutter PJ, Meyer SC, Bordin AI, Vlock DR, Pier GB, Cohen ND. Antibody activities in hyperimmune plasma against the Rhodococcus equi virulence -associated protein A or poly-N-acetyl glucosamine are associated with protection of foals against rhodococcal pneumonia.. PLoS One 2021;16(8):e0250133.
- Cohen ND, Kahn SK, Cywes-Bentley C, Ramirez-Cortez S, Schuckert AE, Vinacur M, Bordin AI, Pier GB. Serum Antibody Activity against Poly-N-Acetyl Glucosamine (PNAG), but Not PNAG Vaccination Status, Is Associated with Protecting Newborn Foals against Intrabronchial Infection with Rhodococcus equi.. Microbiol Spectr 2021 Sep 3;9(1):e0063821.
- Álvarez-Narváez S, Huber L, Giguère S, Hart KA, Berghaus RD, Sanchez S, Cohen ND. Epidemiology and Molecular Basis of Multidrug Resistance in Rhodococcus equi.. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev 2021 May 19;85(2).
- Bordin AI, Cohen ND, Giguère S, Bray JM, Berghaus LJ, Scott B, Johnson R, Hook M. Host-directed therapy in foals can enhance functional innate immunity and reduce severity of Rhodococcus equi pneumonia.. Sci Rep 2021 Jan 28;11(1):2483.
- Harvey AB, Bordin AI, Rocha JN, Bray JM, Cohen ND. Opsonization but not pretreatment of equine macrophages with hyperimmune plasma nonspecifically enhances phagocytosis and intracellular killing of Rhodococcus equi.. J Vet Intern Med 2021 Jan;35(1):590-596.
- Folmar CN, Cywes-Bentley C, Bordin AI, Rocha JN, Bray JM, Kahn SK, Schuckert AE, Pier GB, Cohen ND. In vitro evaluation of complement deposition and opsonophagocytic killing of Rhodococcus equi mediated by poly-N-acetyl glucosamine hyperimmune plasma compared to commercial plasma products.. J Vet Intern Med 2019 May;33(3):1493-1499.
- Trevisani MM, Hanna ES, Oliveira AF, Cardoso SA, Roque-Barreira MC, Soares SG. Vaccination of Mice with Virulence-Associated Protein G (VapG) Antigen Confers Partial Protection against Rhodococcus equi Infection through Induced Humoral Immunity.. Front Microbiol 2017;8:857.
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