Infecção latente pelo herpesvírus bovino tipo 1 em búfalos (Bubalus bubalis) no Rio Grande do Sul / Bovine herpesvirus type 1 latent infection in buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) in Rio Grande do Sul

Apesar dos bovinos serem considerados os hospedeiros naturais do BoHV-1, estudos sorológicos têm sugerido que búfalos podem ser suscetíveis ao BoHV-1 e a outros alfa-herpesvírus geneticamente relacionados. O objetivo deste estudo foi detectar a presença de DNA viral de BoHV-1 em 202 amostras de gânglios trigêmeos de búfalos, pela técnica de semi-nested PCR, para detecção de um segmento do gene codificante da glicoproteína D (gD) do BoHV-1. Além disso, 242 amostras de soro foram analisadas pela técnica de soroneutralização (SN) para a detecção de anticorpos neutralizantes contra BoHV-1, BoHV-5 e BuHV. Todas as amostras clínicas foram coletadas em um matadouro na cidade de Pelotas, RS, Brasil. O DNA de BoHV-1 foi detectado em 61 (30,1%) gânglios, e os resultados da SN demonstraram que 27,6% dos animais apresentaram anticorpos contra, pelo menos, um dos vírus testados. O sequenciamento genômico e a análise de 14 amplicons confirmaram a presença do DNA do BoHV-1 nos tecidos analisados. Em resumo, os resultados indicam que o BoHV-1 está distribuído em rebanhos bubalinos provenientes da região Sul do Brasil. Entretanto, são necessárias investigações adicionais, no sentido de elucidar o papel exato dos búfalos na epidemiologia das infecções pelo BoHV-1.(AU)

Although bovines are natural hosts for BoHV-1, serologic studies in several countries have suggested that buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) may be susceptible to BoHV-1 and other genetically related alphaherpesvirus. This study aimed to investigate the presence of BoHV-1 DNA in trigeminal ganglia from 202 buffaloes by a semi-nested PCR to amplify partially the glycoprotein D (gD) gene of BoHV-1. Additionally, 242 serum samples were tested by serum neutralization (SN) for the detection of antibodies against BoHV-1, BoHV-5 and BuHV. All clinical samples were collected in a slaughterhouse located in Pelotas, RS, Brazil. BoHV-1 DNA was detected in 61 (30.1%) of the samples and SN revealed 27.6% of the animals with neutralizing antibodies against at least one of the tested viruses. Nucleotide sequencing of 15 amplicons followed by BLAST analysis confirmed the presence of BoHV-1 DNA in the analyzed tissues. Taken together, these data indicate that BoHV-1 infection is distributed in buffaloes in southern Brazil. However, the role of buffaloes in the BoHV-1 epidemiology needs further investigation.(AU)

Bovine alphaherpesvirus 1 and 5 in semen from bulls presenting genital lesions under field conditions in Brazil / Alfaherpesvírus bovino 1 e 5 em sêmen de touros com lesões genitais, sob condições a campo no Brasil

Bovine alphaherpesviruses 1 and 5 (BoHV-1/5) are main pathogens of respiratory, reproductive and neurological diseases in cattle. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of neutralizing antibodies against BoHV-1/5 in serum samples and to detect viral DNA in semen of bulls from beef cattle farms located in RS. A total of 372 serum and semen sample from bulls were collected in eighteen farms. Serum samples were submitted to virus neutralization (VN) assay, while semen samples were used to detect BoHV-1 and BoHV-5 DNA by PCR. VN results showed that BoHV-1/5 antibodies were detected in bulls of 66.7% (12/18) of the farms, 295 (79.5%) BoHV positive bulls, 287 for BoHV-1 and 234 for BoHV-; at 43 vaccinated bulls 72.1% (31/43) showing serology negative. BoHV-1/5 DNA was detected in the semen of three bulls; one of the them presenting BoHV-1, one out three presenting BoHV-5 and one BoHV-1/5.co-infection All BoHV DNA positive samples came from animals presenting posthitis and other genital lesions at sampling. Results showed a high seroprevalence of BoHV-1/5 antibodies in bulls as well as strong evidence that these viruses are actively circulating in the cattle farms. A remarkable finding is that in the presence of clinically evident lesions in the genital tract, both BoHV-1 and 5 may found in semen.(AU)

Os alfa-herpesvírus bovinos 1 e 5 (BoHV-1/5) são importantes patógenos de doença respiratória, reprodutiva e neurológica em bovinos. O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar a frequência de detecção de anticorpos neutralizantes contra BoHV-1/5 em amostra de soro e detectar DNA viral em sêmen de touros do rebanho bovino localizado nas fazendas de gado de corte do RS. Um total de 371 amostras de soro e sêmen foi coletado de touros em 18 fazendas, 325 das quais são provenientes de touros não vacinados e 43 de vacinados. Amostras de soro foram submetidas à técnica de vírus-neutralização (VN), enquanto as amostras de sêmen foram submetidas à extração de DNA e posterior PCR (polymerase chain reaction) para detecção de BoHV-1 e 5. Os resultados da VN demostraram que anticorpos contra BoHV-1/5 foram detectados nos touros não vacinados em 66,7% (12/18) das fazendas, 295 (79,5%) touros mostraram-se positivos para BoHV, 287 para BoHV-1 e 234 para BoHV-5; e para 43 touros vacinados, observou-se que 72,1% (31/43) foram negativos na sorologia DNA de BoHV-1/5, detectado no sêmen de três touros: um deles apresentava BoHV-1, outro BoHV-5 e em um foi detectada coinfecção por BoHV-1/5. Todas as amostras positivas para o DNA viral eram provenientes de animais que apresentavam lesões de postite e outras lesões genitais. Esses resultados demonstram que há uma alta soroprevalência de BoHV-1/5 em touros, bem como uma forte evidência de que esses vírus estão circulando ativamente no rebanho bovino dessas fazendas. Um achado interessante foi a detecção de BoHV-1 e 5 em touros com lesões na região do trato genital.(AU)

Safety and immunogenicity of a glycoprotein E gene-deleted bovine herpesvirus 1 strain as a candidate vaccine strain / Atenuação e imunogenicidade de uma cepa recombinante do herpesvírus bovino tipo 1 defectiva na glicoproteína E

A glycoprotein E-deleted Brazilian bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1gEΔ) was tested regarding to safety and immunogenicity. Intramuscular inoculation of young calves with a high virus dose did not result in clinical signs or virus shedding during acute infection or after dexamethasone administration. Calves vaccinated once IM (group I) or subcutaneously (group II) with live BoHV-1gEΔ or twice with inactivated virus plus aluminum hydroxide (group IV) or Montanide™ (group V) developed VN titers of 2 to 8 (GMT:2); 2 to 4 (GMT:1.65); 2 to 16 (GMT:2.45) and 2 to 128 (GMT:3.9), respectively. All BoHV-1gEΔ vaccinated calves remained negative in an anti-gE ELISA. Lastly, six young calves vaccinated with live BoHV-1gEΔ and subsequently challenged with a virulent BoHV-1 strain shed less virus and developed only mild and transient nasal signs comparing to unvaccinated calves. Thus, the recombinant BoHV-1gEΔ is safe and immunogenic for calves and allows for serological differentiation by a gE-ELISA test.(AU)

Um isolado brasileiro de herpesvírus bovino tipo 1, contendo uma deleção na glicoproteína E (gE - BoHV-1gEΔ) foi submetido a testes para avaliar a sua segurança e imunogenicidade em bovinos. Bezerros foram submetidos à inoculação intramuscular com uma alta dose viral e não demonstraram sinais clínicos ou excreção viral durante a fase aguda ou após tentativa de reativação viral pela administração de dexametasona. Bezerros que receberam uma dose do vírus vivo, contendo a deleção na gE, pela via intramuscular (grupo I) ou pela via subcutânea (grupo II) ou duas doses do vírus inativado utilizando o adjuvante hidróxido de alumínio (grupo IV) ou Montanide™ (grupo V), desenvolveram títulos de anticorpos neutralizantes de 2 a 8 (GMT: 2); 2 a 4 (GMT: 1,65); 2 a 16 (GMT: 2,25) e de 2 a 128 (GMT: 3,9), respectivamente. Todos os bezerros vacinados se mantiveram soronegativos quando utilizado um kit ELISA específico para a gE. Para o teste de segurança, seis bezerros foram vacinados com o vírus vivo BoHV-1gEΔ, sendo estes posteriormente desafiados com uma cepa virulenta de BoHV-1. Estes bezerros excretaram menos vírus e desenvolveram apenas sinais clínicos moderados e transitórios quando comparados com dados coletados de quatro animais não-vacinados. Com base nestes resultados, podemos confirmar que o vírus do BoHV-1 que contém a deleção na gE (BoHV-1gEΔ) é seguro e suficientemente imunogênico para bezerros e permite a diferenciação sorológica entre os animais vacinados e infectados perante a a um teste ELISA commercial específico para a gE.(AU)

A glycoprotein E gene-deleted bovine herpesvirus 1 as a candidate vaccine strain

A bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) defective in glycoprotein E (gE) was constructed from a Brazilian genital BoHV-1 isolate, by replacing the full gE coding region with the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene for selection. Upon co-transfection of MDBK cells with genomic viral DNA plus the GFP-bearing gE-deletion plasmid, three fluorescent recombinant clones were obtained out of approximately 5000 viral plaques. Deletion of the gE gene and the presence of the GFP marker in the genome of recombinant viruses were confirmed by PCR. Despite forming smaller plaques, the BoHV-1△gE recombinants replicated in MDBK cells with similar kinetics and to similar titers to that of the parental virus (SV56/90), demonstrating that the gE deletion had no deleterious effects on replication efficacy in vitro. Thirteen calves inoculated intramuscularly with BoHV-1△gE developed virus neutralizing antibodies at day 42 post-infection (titers from 2 to 16), demonstrating the ability of the recombinant to replicate and to induce a serological response in vivo. Furthermore, the serological response induced by recombinant BoHV-1△gE could be differentiated from that induced by wild-type BoHV-1 by the use of an anti-gE antibody ELISA kit. Taken together, these results indicated the potential application of recombinant BoHV-1 △gE in vaccine formulations to prevent the losses caused by BoHV-1 infections while allowing for differentiation of vaccinated from naturally infected animals.

Induction of humoral responses to BHV-1 glycoprotein D expressed by HSV-1 amplicon vectors

Herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) amplicon vectors are versatile and useful tools for transferring genes into cells that are capable of stimulating a specific immune response to their expressed antigens. In this work, two HSV-1-derived amplicon vectors were generated. One of these expressed the full-length glycoprotein D (gD) of bovine herpesvirus 1 while the second expressed the truncated form of gD (gDtr) which lacked the trans-membrane region. After evaluating gD expression in the infected cells, the ability of both vectors to induce a specific gD immune response was tested in BALB/c mice that were intramuscularly immunized. Specific serum antibody responses were detected in mice inoculated with both vectors, and the response against truncated gD was higher than the response against full-length gD. These results reinforce previous findings that HSV-1 amplicon vectors can potentially deliver antigens to animals and highlight the prospective use of these vectors for treating infectious bovine rhinotracheitis disease.

Direct detection of bovine herpes virus-1 DNA from cell culture fluids using polymerase chain reaction.

A pair of oligomers of 20 and 23 bp were designed for amplifying a 381 bp sequence from glycoprotein IV gene of bovine herpesvirus 1. The primer pairs were used for amplifying genomic DNA of BHV-1 directly from cell culture fluids under different experimental conditions such as, untreated cell culture fluid, thermal denaturation and proteinase K treatment in presence of detergent. The results reveal that direct thermal denaturation of cell culture fluid is sufficient to detect the virus by polymerase chain reaction.

Cloning of 2.4 kb bovine herpesvirus-1 DNA fragment containing glycoprotein III gene into pUC18 plasmid vector.

A recombinant pBR322 plasmid containing bovine herpesvirus-1 HindIII 'I' fragment was analysed using EcoRI and BamHI restriction endonucleases. This recombinant plasmid was labelled with [alpha 32P]dATP and hybridized with southern blot of HindIII digested BHV-1 DNA fragments. A 2.4 kb double digested EcoRI-BamHI fragment of HindIII 'I' was subcloned into pUC18 plasmid to get complete gIII gene. The recombinant pUC18 plasmid was analysed for 2.4 kb BHV-1 DNA insert by restriction digestion with EcoRI and BamHI. Southern blot of restriction digested plasmid was hybridized with [alpha 32P]dATP labelled BHV-1 DNA probe.

Molecular cloning and restriction endonuclease analysis of 0.4 kb Hin dIII'O' fragment of bovine herpesvirus 1 DNA.

Bovine herpesvirus 1 DNA has been isolated by SDS lysis of the virus purified from potassium tartrate (10-50%) density gradient centrifugation. The quality and quantity of viral DNA was checked by UV spectrophotometry and ethidium bromide stained agarose gel electrophoresis. The 0.4 kb Hin dIII'O' fragment of BHV-1 DNA was selectively cloned into Hin dIII cut pUC9 plasmid DNA (2.665 kb). Recombinants were screened by white/blue colonies as well as Hin dIII restriction enzyme analysis. On restriction endonuclease analysis of recombinant plasmid DNA (p-BH-0) with several restriction enzymes, viz., Sau 3A, Hin fI, Rsa I, Sal I, Dra I, Bgl I, Bgl II, Sma I, Hpa I, Stu I, Mlu I, Xho I, Kpn I, Hae III, Eco RI, Bam HI, Pst I, Pal I, revealed insert viral DNA having sites for Hin fI, Hae III, Rsa I, Sma I, only. Further, the partial restriction map of the recombinant plasmid DNA was constructed using above enzymes.