Clostridium perfringens α and β recombinant toxoids in equine immunization

Abstract

Clostridium perfringens is considered one of the main causative agents of superacute enterocolitis, usually fatal in the equine species, due to the action of the β toxin, and is responsible for causing severe myonecrosis, by the action of the α toxin. The great importance of this agent in the equine economy is due to high mortality and lack of vaccines, which are the main form of prevention, which guarantee the immunization of this animal species. The aim of this study was to evaluate three different concentrations (100, 200 and 400μg) of C. perfringens α and β recombinant toxoids in equine immunization and to compare with a group vaccinated with a commercial toxoid. The commercial vaccine was not able to stimulate an immune response and the recombinant vaccine was able to induce satisfactory humoral immune response in vaccinated horses, proving to be an alternative prophylactic for C. perfringens infection.

Measurement over 1 Year of Neutralizing Antibodies in Cattle Immunized with Trivalent Vaccines Recombinant Alpha, Beta and Epsilon of Clostridium perfringens

“…Recombinant proteins have shown promising results in the induction of neutralizing antibodies in different species, reaching the minimum titers required by law and higher than those obtained with commercial vaccines [ 3 , 4 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. However, most of these studies involve potency tests, evaluating the production of neutralizing antibodies only at 56 days after the first vaccination, only two of them involving vaccines against botulism [ 12 , 18 ] among those that have evaluated the duration of the induced protection time in immunized animals.…”

“…It showed results statistically similar to RV3 in regard to the mean antibody titers throughout most of the study. Freitas et al [ 19 ] tested, in horses, bivalent vaccines against C. perfringens rCPA and rCPB, obtained by the same cloning and expression technique used in the present study, at concentrations of 100, 200 and 400 µg per dose. At 56 days after immunization, the authors also found 200 µg as the lowest concentration capable of inducing the minimum antibody titers required by law against these toxins, demonstrating that the recombinant formulations produced using this technology show similar performance even in different species.…”

“…Regarding the longevity of the induced immune response, it showed detectable antibody levels up to 150 days, but only for anti-CPB and anti-ETX. In recent years, other studies have also reported that the antibody titers induced by commercial clostridial vaccines were lower than those obtained with recombinant vaccines using the same adjuvant, aluminum hydroxide [ 10 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 19 ]. Augusto de Oliveira et al [ 22 ] evaluated the humoral immune response of cattle inoculated with polyvalent commercial vaccines containing C. botulinum toxoids type C and D (BoNTs) and the C. perfringens ETX toxoid for 1 year.…”

“…The addition of more doses at smaller intervals, such as biannual revaccination or adjustments in the intervals between the first and second doses of the initial vaccination protocol, can be adopted as strategies to increase the detection period of neutralizing antibodies in sera from these animals. In addition, further studies are needed to find ways to prolong the humoral immune response induced by these recombinant vaccines, considering the efficacy results already achieved with this technology in different species [ 3 , 15 , 18 , 19 ] and given the limitations of conventional production. Tests involving other adjuvant molecules besides the aluminum hydroxide used in most commercial and recombinant vaccines can improve and prolong the efficacy of these vaccines [ 21 , 28 ] and bioinformatic tools can be used for the development of new immunogenic recombinant molecules.…”

“…Recombinant clostridial vaccines are viable alternatives to conventional commercial production [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 10 , 11 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ], eliciting the production of neutralizing antibodies to within the levels required by law. However, studies on the modulation of the animal immune system are still needed to establish the longevity of the humoral immune response induced by different doses of recombinant proteins [ 3 ].…”