ABSTRACT
The effect of bovine lactoferrin (bLF) was examined on an AIDS-like disease (ALD) in mice. Induction of disease was achieved by inoculation with infected cell-free plasma from diseased mice to uninfected ones. The effect of treatment with bLF was investigated when administered simultaneously with the virus, 20 days prior to infection, or 20 days after infection. Animals underwent clinical surveillance and enumeration of white blood cells (WBC) and lymphocytes, as well as fluorescent staining of CD4 and CD8 bearing cells. Simultaneous administration of bLF and virus did not affect the pattern of ALD progress along the course of the experiment. Pretreatment with bLF prior to virus inoculation abolished on day 21 the detrimental effect of viral infection that lasted for two months. An opposite outcome was observed when bLF was administered 20 days after the virus. It seems that bLF had played a preventive role for a restricted period of time. However, an adverse response was elicited when bLF was administered 20 days after viral infection.
Subject(s)
Lactoferrin/pharmacology , Murine Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/drug therapy , Animals , CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes/immunology , CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes , Female , Flow Cytometry , Hepatomegaly , Immunophenotyping , Lactoferrin/immunology , Leukocyte Count , Lymphocyte Count , Mice , Mice, Inbred BALB C , Murine Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/immunology , Murine Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/pathology , Statistics, NonparametricABSTRACT
Bovine mastitis caused by Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a most important infection disease that affects both the quality and the quantity of milk production. Antibiotic therapies formulated for intramammary use are generally unsuccessful in eliminating existing S. aureus infections. Vaccination is a logical approach to the control of S. aureus udder infections. However, to date commercially available S. aureus vaccine have shown limited efficacy under field conditions, mainly due to the paucity of information regarding relevant antigens which will induce a broad spectrum immunization. In the present paper the attempt to develop a new vaccine designated MASTIVAC I is described. MASTIVAC I is composed of three strains of S. aureus namely: VLVL8407; ZO3984 and BS449 which were isolated from clinical and sub-clinical cases of bovine mastitis. A mouse model was used to evaluate the S. aureus specific antibody production and protection of mice against virulent S. aureus strains. The results obtained showed that this vaccine exhibits a broad spectrum of antigenic and immunogenic properties that protects mice from homologues and hetrologous S. aureus challenge.
Subject(s)
Disease Models, Animal , Mastitis, Bovine/immunology , Staphylococcal Infections/immunology , Staphylococcal Infections/prevention & control , Staphylococcal Vaccines/immunology , Staphylococcus aureus/immunology , Animals , Antibodies, Bacterial/blood , Antibodies, Bacterial/immunology , Cattle , Female , Mastitis, Bovine/prevention & control , Mice , Staphylococcal Infections/veterinary , Staphylococcus aureus/pathogenicity , VirulenceABSTRACT
The particular immune system of the camel has been but little investigated. In this work circulating camel peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were studied by flow cytometry. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) raised against ruminant leukocytes were used for the detection of cell surface antigens. Monoclonals to T-cell markers, CD4 (CACT138A) and CD8 (CACT80C), exhibited no reactivity towards camel PBMC in contrast to their reactivity to PBMC of other ruminant species and those of cattle in particular. A relatively high percentage (29.1+/-8.9%) of camel PBMC reacted with a non-immunoglobulin cell surface marker, B-B2, comparable to the reactivity of bovine PBMC. The B-B7 cell marker revealed 22.4+/-10.0% of reactive camel PBMC while the CD45 leukocyte common antigen was identified only on 19.4+/-3.1% of camel PBMC as compared to 74.7+/-4.9% for bovine PBMC. IgM (PIg45A) was detected on 9.1+/-1.4% of camel PBMC and on 46.6+/-19.5% of the bovine PBMC. Double fluorescent labeling with two B-cell markers and an anti-ruminant lambda light-chain mAb revealed 7-9% of cells bearing both B and lambda L-chain markers. Light chain reactivity was also assessed using an anti-goat F(ab')(2) antiserum. The values obtained, 14.3+/-5.8% for the camel and 47.8+/-2.7% for the cattle, are close to the values observed for surface IgM. These data suggest that camels, like other ruminants, possess L-chain bearing cells of the B-cell lineage. However, in the camel, Igs are different in that in addition to regular four chain Igs, about 65% of them possess two heavy chain Igs devoid of light chains. Because different sets of V(H) gene segments are used by four and two chain Igs, it is possible that there might be two lineages of B-cells each secreting a different form of antibodies.
