Establishment of rabbit model for immunogenicity evaluation of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To establish an animal model for evaluating immunogenicity of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.Methods New Zealand rabbits were intramuscularly administrated with three doses of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) with two weeks interval between each injection.Serum samples were collected at different time points before and after vaccination.Quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and opsonophagocytosis assay (OPA) that were in conformity with the World Health Organization (WHO) standards were used to detect the concentrations of serotype-specific antibodies and their bactericidal activities.Results The concentrations (Geometric mean concentration, GMC) of serotype-specific antibodies in rabbit serum samples were well correlated with their bactericidal activities (Geometric mean titer, GMT) following vaccination.Moreover, the dynamic changes of GMC and GMT of the same serotype-specific antibody remained consistent as time went by.Conclusion Rabbit model can be used to analyze the immunogenicity of PCV13 vaccine with quantitative ELISA and OPA, which indicates that it is a suitable animal model for evaluating immunogenicity of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.