Sarcocystis neurona-specific immunoglobulin G in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid of horses administered S neurona vaccine.
Abstract: A vaccine against Sarcocystis neurona, which induces equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM), has received conditional licensure in the United States. A major concern is whether the immunoglobulin G (IgG) response elicited by the vaccine will compromise the use of Western blotting (WB) as a diagnostic tool in vaccinated horses with neurologic disease. Our goals were to determine if vaccination (1) causes seroconversion: (2) causes at least a transient increase in S neurona-specific IgG in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF); and (3) induces an IgG response that can be differentiated from that induced by natural exposure. Horses included in the study (n = 29) were older than 6 months with no evidence of neurologic disease. The presence or absence of anti-S neurona antibodies in the serum of each horse was determined by WB analysis. Seropositive horses had CSF collected and submitted for cytology, CSF index, and WB analysis. The vaccine was administered to all the horses and boostered 3-4 weeks later. On day 14 after the 2nd administration, serum and CSF were collected and analyzed. Eighty-nine percent (8 of 9) of the initial seronegative horses seroconverted after vaccination, of which 57% (4 of 7) had anti-S neurona IgG in their CSE Eighty percent (16 of 20) of the seropositive horses had an increase in serum S neurona IgG after vaccination. Of the 6 of 20 horses that were initially seropositive/CSF negative, 2 were borderline positive for anti-S neurona IgG in the CSF, 2 tested positive, and 2 were excluded because the CSF sample had been contaminated by blood. There were no WB banding patterns that distinguished samples from horses that seroconverted due to vaccination versus natural exposure. Caution must be used in interpreting WB analysis from neurologic horses that have been recently vaccinated for EPM.
Publication Date: 2004-02-10 PubMed ID: 14765738DOI: 10.1892/0891-6640(2004)18<98:snigit>2.0.co;2Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
- Research Support
- Non-U.S. Gov't
- Antibodies
- Cerebrospinal Fluid
- Clinical Pathology
- Clinical Study
- Diagnosis
- Disease Diagnosis
- Disease Treatment
- Equine Health
- Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis
- Horses
- Immune Response
- Immunization
- Immunoglobulin G
- Infectious Disease
- Neurological Diseases
- Sarcocystis
- Serum
- Vaccine
- Vaccine development
- Veterinary Medicine
- Western Blot
Summary
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This study investigates the potential impact of a conditionally licensed Sarcocystis neurona vaccine, used to prevent equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM), on the immunoglobulin G (IgG) response in horses, and the implications for diagnostic tools. The findings reveal that the vaccine leads to seroconversion and an increase in S neurona-specific IgG in a significant proportion of tested horses, suggesting that caution must be taken when interpreting test results from recently vaccinated animals.
Research Objectives
- The research aimed to determine the effects of the Sarcocystis neurona vaccine on horses.
- The main focus was on whether vaccination causes seroconversion, whether it leads to an increase of S neurona-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) in a horse’s cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and whether this induced response can be differentiated from that caused by natural exposure to the pathogen.
- The concerns around this topic center on whether the vaccine-induced IgG response would impact the accurate use of Western blotting (WB) as a diagnostic tool for identifying neurologic disease in vaccinated horses.
Research Methodology
- The study involved 29 horses older than six months, showing no signs of neurologic disease.
- Initially, serum samples were taken from each horse and analyzed using WB to establish the presence or absence of anti-S neurona antibodies.
- Identified seropositive horses also had CSF collected for further testing, including cytology, CSF index, and WB analysis.
- All horses were then vaccinated and given a booster 3-4 weeks later. After another two weeks, both serum and CSF samples were collected and analyzed again.
Findings & Implications
- The study found that a high percentage of the initially seronegative horses seroconverted after vaccination with some showing the presence of anti-S neurona IgG in their CSF.
- Similarly, a substantial proportion of initially seropositive horses showed an increase in serum S neurona IgG after vaccination.
- However, no distinguishable patterns were found in the WB analysis of samples from horses that seroconverted due to vaccination versus those due to natural exposure.
- These findings suggest that the S neurona vaccine does have a significant impact on the IgG response in horses. This could potentially complicate the interpretation of results obtained from WB analysis in the diagnosis of neurologic disease in horses that have been recently vaccinated for EPM.
Cite This Article
APA
Witonsky S, Morrow JK, Leger C, Dascanio J, Buechner-Maxwell V, Palmer W, Kline K, Cook A.
(2004).
Sarcocystis neurona-specific immunoglobulin G in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid of horses administered S neurona vaccine.
J Vet Intern Med, 18(1), 98-103.
https://doi.org/10.1892/0891-6640(2004)18<98:snigit>2.0.co;2 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0442, USA. switonsk@vt.edu
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Antibodies, Protozoan / immunology
- Blotting, Western / veterinary
- Female
- Horse Diseases / blood
- Horse Diseases / cerebrospinal fluid
- Horse Diseases / immunology
- Horse Diseases / prevention & control
- Horses
- Immunoglobulin G / blood
- Immunoglobulin G / cerebrospinal fluid
- Immunoglobulin G / immunology
- Male
- Sarcocystis / immunology
- Sarcocystosis / prevention & control
- Sarcocystosis / veterinary
- Vaccines
Citations
This article has been cited 3 times.- Dubey JP, Howe DK, Furr M, Saville WJ, Marsh AE, Reed SM, Grigg ME. An update on Sarcocystis neurona infections in animals and equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM).. Vet Parasitol 2015 Apr 15;209(1-2):1-42.
- McAllister MM. Successful vaccines for naturally occurring protozoal diseases of animals should guide human vaccine research. A review of protozoal vaccines and their designs.. Parasitology 2014 Apr;141(5):624-40.
- Elsheikha HM, Murphy AJ, Mansfield LS. Phylogenetic congruence of Sarcocystis neurona Dubey et al., 1991 (Apicomplexa: Sarcocystidae) in the United States based on sequence analysis and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP).. Syst Parasitol 2005 Jul;61(3):191-202.
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