Protection of chicken against very virulent IBDV provided by in ovo priming with DNA vaccine and boosting with killed vaccine and the adjuvant effects of plasmid-encoded chicken interleukin-2 and interferon-��

The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy of in ovo prime-boost vaccination against infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) using a DNA vaccine to prime in ovo followed by a killed-vaccine boost post hatching. In addition, the adjuvant effects of plasmid-encoded chicken interleukin-2 and chicken interferon-γ were tested in conjunction with the vaccine. A plasmid DNA vaccine (pcDNA-VP243) encoding the VP2, VP4, and VP3 proteins of the very virulent IBDV (vvIBDV) SH/92 strain was injected into the amniotic sac alone or in combination with a plasmid encoding chicken IL-2 (ChIL-2) or chicken IFN-γ (ChIFN-γ) at embryonation day 18, followed by an intramuscular injection of a commercial killed IBD vaccine at 1 week of age. The chickens were orally challenged with the vvIBDV SH/92 strain at 3 weeks of age and observed for 10 days. In ovo DNA immunization followed by a killed-vaccine boost provided significantly better immunity than the other options. No mortality was observed in this group after a challenge with the vvIBDV. The prime-boost strategy was moderately effective against bursal damage, which was measured by the bursa weight/body weight ratio, the presence of IBDV RNA, and the bursal lesion score. In ovo DNA vaccination with no boost did not provide sufficient immunity, and the addition of ChIL-2 or ChIFN-γ did not enhance protective immunity. In the ConA-induced lymphocyte proliferation assay of peripheral blood lymphocyte collected 10 days post-challenge, there was greater proliferation responses in the DNA vaccine plus boost and DNA vaccine with ChIL-2 plus boost groups compared to the other groups. These findings suggest that priming with DNA vaccine and boosting with killed vaccine is an effective strategy for protecting chickens against vvIBDV.     

DNA Immunization Against Very Virulent Infectious Bursal Disease Virus with VP2‐4‐3 Gene and Chicken IL‐6 Gene

The present study was to investigate the feasibility and efficiency of the DNA vaccine to protect chickens against very virulent infectious bursal disease virus (vvIBDV) infection. A plasmid DNA carrying VP2‐4‐3 genes of vvIBDV SH95 and a plasmid DNA carrying chicken interleukin‐6 (ChIL‐6) genes were constructed and designated as pALTER‐MAX‐VP2‐4‐3 and pALTER‐MAX‐ChIL‐6 respectively. Several DNA vaccination experiments were performed: 1‐week‐old chickens were intramuscularly injected with only plasmid pcDNA3‐VP2, pALTER‐MAX‐VP2‐4‐3 or mixture with pALTER‐MAX‐ChIL‐6. The chickens at 4 weeks old were orally inoculated with vvIBDV SH95. The results showed that immunization with the mixture of pALTER‐MAX‐VP2‐4‐3 and pALTER‐MAX‐ChIL‐6 three times conferred protection for 90% of chickens. Enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) antibody titres in chickens immunized together with pALTER‐MAX‐ChIL‐6 were higher than those immunized simply with plasmid pcDNA3‐VP2 or pALTER‐MAX‐VP2‐4‐3. IBDV was not detected in the bursa of the protected chickens at 8 days after challenge by RT‐PCR. The results indicate that protection against vvIBDV can be achieved by using the VP2‐4‐3 gene of vvIBDV as a DNA vaccine. Furthermore, the simultaneous injection of ChIL‐6 plasmid significantly increased the protection after challenge with the very virulent strain.     

DNA immunization against very virulent infectious bursal disease virus with VP2-4-3 gene and chicken IL-6 gene

The present study was to investigate the feasibility and efficiency of the DNA vaccine to protect chickens against very virulent infectious bursal disease virus (vvIBDV) infection. A plasmid DNA carrying VP2-4-3 genes of vvIBDV SH95 and a plasmid DNA carrying chicken interleukin-6 (ChIL-6) genes were constructed and designated as pALTER-MAX-VP2-4-3 and pALTER-MAX-ChIL-6 respectively. Several DNA vaccination experiments were performed: 1-week-old chickens were intramuscularly injected with only plasmid pcDNA3-VP2, pALTER-MAX-VP2-4-3 or mixture with pALTER-MAX-ChIL-6. The chickens at 4 weeks old were orally inoculated with vvIBDV SH95. The results showed that immunization with the mixture of pALTER-MAX-VP2-4-3 and pALTER-MAX-ChIL-6 three times conferred protection for 90% of chickens. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) antibody titres in chickens immunized together with pALTER-MAX-ChIL-6 were higher than those immunized simply with plasmid pcDNA3-VP2 or pALTER-MAX-VP2-4-3. IBDV was not detected in the bursa of the protected chickens at 8 days after challenge by RT-PCR. The results indicate that protection against vvIBDV can be achieved by using the VP2-4-3 gene of vvIBDV as a DNA vaccine. Furthermore, the simultaneous injection of ChIL-6 plasmid significantly increased the protection after challenge with the very virulent strain.     

Effects of DDA, CpG-ODN, and plasmid-encoded chicken IFN-�� on protective immunity by a DNA vaccine against IBDV in chickens

This study examined the adjuvant effects of dimethyl dioctadecyl ammonium bromide (DDA), CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG-ODN), and chicken interferon-γ (ChIFN-γ) on a DNA vaccine (pcDNA-VP243) against the infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). A plasmid encoding chicken IFN-ã was constructed. Twice at 2-week intervals, two-week-old chickens were injected intramuscularly and intraperitoneally with either a DNA vaccine alone or a DNA vaccine together with the respective adjuvants. On week 2 after the second immunization, the chickens were orally challenged with the highly virulent IBDV. The groups that received the DNA vaccines plus either DDA or CpG-ODN showed significantly lower survival rates than the group that received the DNA vaccine alone. However, the survival rates for the DNA vaccine alone and for the DNA vaccine plus ChIFN-γ were similar. The chickens had no detectable antibodies to the IBDV before the challenge but all the surviving chickens in all groups except for the normal control group showed the induction of antibodies to the IBDV at day 10 after the challenge. As judged by the lymphocyte proliferation assays using the a WST-8 solution performed on the peripheral blood and splenic lymphocytes, the stimulation indices (SI) of the peripheral blood lymphocytes in all groups except for the normal control group were similar immediately before the challenge. At 10 days post-challenge, the SI for DNA vaccine plus either CpG-ODN or ChIFN-γ was similar to that of the DNA vaccine control group. For splenic lymphocytes, the SI in the DNA vaccine plus CpG-ODN and DNA vaccine plus ChIFN-γ groups were higher than for the DNA vaccine control. These results suggest that DDA actually compromises the protection against the IBDV by DNA vaccine, and CpG-ODN and IFN-γ had no significant effect.     

传染性法氏囊病病毒VP2与C3d串联基因重组表达质粒的构建及其免疫功能研究

为提高传染性法氏囊病病毒(IBDV)VP2基因核酸疫苗的免疫效力,本研究根据已发表的鸡源补体C3d序列,设计并合成在5’端添加编码连接肽(Gly4Ser)2序列的C3d基因。用同尾酶BglⅡ和BamHⅠ构建含有3拷贝C3d与VP2基因融合的重组表达质粒pcDNA-VP2-3C3d。用脂质体法转染BHK21细胞,48 h后,westernblot分析表明,表达的重组蛋白为162 ku;间接免疫荧光试验检测转染细胞中具有特异性荧光。用pcDNA-VP2-3C3d与前期构建的pcDNA-VP2分别免疫2周龄SPF鸡,二免14 d后,间接ELISA法检测IBDV抗体效价,pcDNA-VP2-3C3d组抗体水平显著高于pcDNA-VP2组;MTT法检测鸡脾淋巴细胞增殖活性,pcDNA-VP2-3C3d组免疫诱导的特异性淋巴细胞增殖活性显著高于pcDNA-VP2组(p<0.05)。本研究表明C3d可以增强VP2基因免疫诱导的IBDV特异性体液和细胞免疫应答。     

Adjuvant activity of chicken interleukin-12 co-administered with infectious bursal disease virus recombinant VP2 antigen in chickens

A recombinant fowlpox virus (rFPV/VP2) expressing infectious bursal diseases virus (IBDV) VP2 gene has been constructed. After purification and identification of rFPV/VP2, the adjuvant activity of the recombinant chicken IL-12 (rchIL-12), synthesized by our previous construct of rFPV/chIL-12, in rFPV/VP2-expressed rVP2 antigen was assessed in one-week-old specific-pathogen free chickens. The results indicated that rchIL-12 alone or rchIL-12 plus mineral oil (MO) co-administered with rVP2 antigen significantly enhanced the production of serum neutralization (SN) antibody against IBDV, compared to those with MO alone. The SN titers in groups receiving rVP2 antigen with MO alone were more inconsistent after vaccination. On the other hand, rchIL-12 significantly stimulated IFN-γ production in serum and in splenocyte cultured supernatant, suggesting that rchIL-12 alone or plus MO significantly induced a cell-mediated immune response. Finally, bursal lesion protection from very virulent IBDV (vvIBDV) challenge in chickens receiving rVP2 antigen with rchIL-12 alone or plus MO was much more effective than that with MO alone at two weeks after boosting. Taken together, rchIL-12 alone augmented in vivo the induction of a primary and also a secondary SN antibody production and a cell-mediated immunity against IBDV rVP2 antigen, which conferred the enhancement of bursal lesion protective efficacy from vvIBDV challenge. These data indicated that a potential for chIL-12 as immunoadjuvant for chicken vaccine development such as IBDV rVP2 antigen.     

CpG寡核苷酸对IBDV VP2基因真核表达质粒免疫增效作用

以传染性法氏囊病病毒(IBDV)VP2蛋白基因表达质粒DNA为免疫原，以CpG的寡核苷酸(CpG-0DN)为免疫佐剂，肌肉注射于14日龄SPF鸡，1周后加强免疫1次，2次免疫后15d和21d分别测定血清ELISA抗体效价，并于免疫后21d用IBDV99儿强毒株攻毒和进行病理学观察。结果显示，(1)VP2基因重组质粒DNA与CpG共同免疫组的ELISA抗体水平明显高于VP2重组质粒免疫组；(2)IBD弱毒苗与VP2重组质粒免疫组抗体水平明显高于VP2重组质粒免疫组，且比VP2基因重组质粒DNA与CpG共同免疫组略高；(3)VP2基因重组质粒DNA与CpG共同免疫组及IBD弱毒苗与VP2重组质粒免疫组可明显降低IBDV强毒攻击后引起的急性发病率和死亡率。由此表明，CpG寡核苷酸对IBDV VP2蛋白基因真核表达质粒免疫具有明显增强作用，有很大的应用前景。     

IBDV地方野毒株不同毒源二价灭活油乳苗免疫效果的比较研究

对利用IBDV地方野毒株所制备的囊毒和胚毒二价灭活油乳苗免疫效果进行了比较研究。结果表明,所制备的囊毒灭活苗免疫效果显著优于胚毒灭活苗和活疫苗,在接种后各个时期所产生的抗体效价均显著高于其它两种疫苗(P<0.01),最高AGP效价可达4.8log2;胚苗的免疫效果虽然差于囊苗,但明显优于活疫苗,当活苗免疫组鸡血清中已无可测性抗体时,胚苗组仍具有1.0log2的AGP效价。在攻毒试验中,囊苗组鸡对IBDV标准毒、两株野毒株的攻击均100%地获得了保护;胚苗组也均可获得80%的保护,这两种由地方毒株所制备的疫苗均未呈现出对不同毒株抵抗性的不同,而活苗组对不同毒株的攻击则分别只有53.3%、40%和46.7%的保护率,呈现出一定的差异性。     

Efficacy of VP2 protein expressed in E. coli for protection against highly virulent infectious bursal disease virus

The ability of a heat-inactivated whole virus from a highly virulent infectious bursal disease virus (hvIBDV) and VP2 protein from hvIBDV expressed in E. coli provided protection against a hvIBDV challenge in specific-pathogen-free (SPF) chickens. Six out of seven chickens that were injected three times with crude VP2 protein developed significant antibody titer against IBDV. However, only four out of the seven chickens survived the hvIBDV challenge. Despite showing low antibody titer profiles, all chickens immunized with the heat-inactivated whole virus also survived the challenged with hvIBDV. However, all of these chickens had bursal atrophy and mild to moderate depletion of lymphocytes. Thus, antibodies raised against IBDV VP2 protein expressed in E. coli and denatured IBDV proteins induced some degree of protection against mortality but not against bursal damage following challenge with hvIBDV.     

中等毒力IBD疫苗对SPF鸡人工感vvIBDV的免疫保护作用的研究

本试验选用在山东省普遍使用的两种中等毒力IBD疫苗，分别在12和19日龄两次免疫SPF鸡，二免后13开人工接种vvIBDV，连续观察14天。结果表明，这两种疫苗均能有效地保护vvIBDV对SPF鸡的感染，而且也进一步证明，这两种疫苗免疫SPF鸡后，均能对SPF鸡法氏囊、胸腺、脾脏等免疫器官产生不同程度的病理性损伤并且这种损伤是可逆性的。     

Protective immune responses of recombinant VP2 subunit antigen of infectious bursal disease virus in chickens

Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) is the causative agent of Gumboro disease and poses a huge threat to poultry industry. The risks associated with conventional attenuated viral vaccines make it indispensable to probe into the development of novel and rationally designed subunit vaccines which are safer as well as effective. VP2 is the major host-protective antigen found in IBDV capsid. It encompasses different independent epitopes responsible for the induction of neutralizing antibody. Here, we report the efficacy of the immunodominant fragment of VP2 which induces both humoral and cellular immunity against infectious bursal disease. A 366bp fragment (52-417bp) of the VP2 gene from an IBDV field isolate was amplified and expressed in Escherichia coli as a 21kDa recombinant protein. The efficacy of rVP2(52-417) antigen was compared with two commercial IBDV whole virus vaccine strains. The rVP2(52-417) induced significantly high antibody titres in chicken compared to commercial vaccines and the anti-rVP2(52-417) sera showed reactivity with viral antigens from both commercial strains (P<0.0001) and field isolates. Also, the chicken splenocytes from rVP2(52-417) immunized group showed a significantly high proliferation (P<0.01) compared to other groups, which implies that the rVP2(52-417) fragment contains immunogenic epitopes capable of eliciting both B and T cell responses. Further, rVP2(52-417) conferred 100% protection against vIBDV challenge in the immunized chickens which was significantly higher (P<0.001) compared to 55-60% protection by commercial vaccine strains. Hence, the study confirms the efficacy of the immunodominant VP2 fragment that could be used as a potent vaccine against IBDV infection in chicken.     

Baculovirus virions displaying infectious bursal disease virus VP2 protein protect chickens against infectious bursal disease virus infection

Infectious bursal disease (IBD) is an acute and contagious viral infection of young chickens caused by IBD virus (IBDV). The VP2 protein of IBDV is the only antigen for inducing neutralizing antibodies and protective immunity in the natural host. In the current study, we have succeeded in construction of one recombinant baculovirus BacSC-VP2 expressing His6-tagged VP2 with the baculovirus envelope protein gp64 transmembrane domain (TM) and cytoplasmic domain (CTD). The His6-tagged recombinant VP2 was expressed and anchored on the plasma membrane of Sf-9 cells, as examined by western blot and confocal microscopy. Immunogold electron microscopy demonstrated that the VP2 protein of IBDV was successfully displayed on the viral surface. Vaccination of chickens with the VP2-pseudotyped baculovirus vaccine (BacSC-VP2) elicited significantly higher levels of VP2-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay antibodies and neutralizing antibodies than the control groups. IBDV-specific proliferation of lymphocytes was observed in chickens immunized with the recombinant BacSC-VP2. An in vivo challenge study of the recombinant baculovirus BacSC-VP2 showed effective protection against a very virulent (vv) IBDV infection in chickens. In addition, mortality and gross and histopathological findings in the bursa demonstrated the efficacy of the vaccine in reducing virulence of the disease. These results indicate that the recombinant baculovirus BacSC-VP2 can be a potential vaccine against IBDV infections.     

Development of a DNA vaccine against chicken anemia virus by using a bicistronic vector expressing VP1 and VP2 proteins of CAV

In the present study, we describe the development of a DNA vaccine against chicken anemia virus. The VP1 and VP2 genes of CAV were amplified and cloned into pBudCE4.1 to construct two DNA vaccines, namely, pBudVP1 and pBudVP2-VP1. In vitro and in vivo studies showed that co-expression of VP1 with VP2 are required to induce significant levels of antibody against CAV. Subsequently, the vaccines were tested in 2-week-old SPF chickens. Chickens immunized with the DNA-plasmid pBudVP2-VP1 showed positive neutralizing antibody titer against CAV. Furthermore, VP1-specific proliferation induction of splenocytes and also high serum levels of Th1 cytokines, IL-2 and IFN-γ were detected in the pBudVP2-VP1-vaccinated chickens. These results suggest that the recombinant DNA plasmid co-expressing VP1 and VP2 can be used as a potential DNA vaccine against CAV.     

安徽地区IBDV超强毒株的分离鉴定和VP2基因序列分析

经鸡胚绒毛尿囊膜(CAM)接种、易感鸡接种试验、电镜观察,从安徽地区疑似病鸡的法氏囊组织分离到3株传染性法氏囊病毒。分离株人工感染4周龄鸡,致死率分别为92%、83%、67%。接种9～10SPF鸡胚测得的鸡胚半数致死量(ELD50)分别为10-6.8/0.2mL、10-5.4/0.2mL、10-4.6/0.2mL。应用Nested-PCR分别对3株分离株VP2基因高变区进行克隆测序和序列分析,结果表明:3个分离株与国内外参考超强毒株的核苷酸同源性为97.2%～99.5%,氨基酸同源性为99.3%～100%,VP2高变区核苷酸和推导的氨基酸符合传染性法氏囊病病毒超强毒株特征。     

Comparison of two infectious bursal disease vaccine strains: efficacy and potential hazards in susceptible and maternally immune birds.

Two infectious bursal disease vaccines were administered to separate groups of maternally immune and susceptible chickens at various ages. Vaccine B caused no damage to the bursae of chickens examined histologically at nine and 20 days after vaccination. The bursae of chickens given vaccine A were shown to be severely damaged when similarly examined. Both vaccines protected all the susceptible groups against challenge, but only vaccine A protected the groups of maternally immune chickens. Susceptible chickens vaccinated at one day of age with vaccine A showed a lowered response to Hitchner B1 Newcastle disease vaccine given at 14 days of age, judged by the haemagglutination-inhibition response and Newcastle disease challenge. The performance of the Newcastle disease vaccine was not affected in chickens given vaccine B. Bedding used by birds given vaccine A was shown to be capable of transmitting vaccinal virus to susceptible chickens, causing severe bursal damage.     

LaSota vaccination may not protect against the lesions of velogenic newcastle disease in chickens

Two groups of six weeks old cockerels comprising 40 immunized and 40 non-immunized birds were inoculated intramuscularly with VGF-1, which is a local Nigerian strain of velogenic Newcastle disease virus (VNDV). Immunized birds did not show any clinical signs except significant loss (p < 0.05) in body weight on days 5 and 20 post inoculation (PI). But the non-immunized birds showed clinical signs of disease characterized by anorexia and drowsiness from day 2 PI. These were followed on day 3 PI by depression, diarrhoea, opisthotonus, weight loss (p < 0.05) and high mortalities (96.9%). Both the immunized and non-immunized groups showed severe atrophy of the bursa, spleen and thymus. Histopathological section of these lymphoid organs showed necrosis and depletion of lymphocytes. Both the gross and microscopic lesions were more severe in the non-immunized birds. Marked ballooning degeneration was observed in the bursal follicles of the non-immunized birds. This lesion has not been described earlier for any other disease and could be diagnostic for VND. Our results also showed that VND can cause marked atrophy of the lymphoid organs, which may lead to immunosupression without the characteristic signs of Newcastle disease (ND) in vaccinated chickens. This no doubt emphasizes the limitation of vaccination as a biosecurity measure in poultry industry. Ezema, W.S., J.O.A. Okoye and Nwanta, J.A., 2008. LaSota vaccination may not protect against the lesions of velogenic Newcastle disease in chickens. Tropical Animal Health and Production     

Very Virulent Infectious Bursal Disease Virus in Egypt: Epidemiology,Isolation and Immunogenicity of Classic Vaccine

Infectious bursal disease (IBD) is still a significant threat facing the Egyptian poultry industry. In this study, eight very virulent IBD viruses (vvIBDV), originating from acute IBD outbreaks recorded in lower and upper Egypt, were studied with respect to their ability to replicate in cell culture, antigenicity and immunogenicity of classic vaccine. Six continuous cell lines and one primary cell culture were tested for replication of the vvIBDVs. None of the vvIBDV isolates could be adapted to BGM-70, Vero, BHK, RK-13 or MDBK cell lines or chicken embryo fibroblast cells after six blind passages. Serological typing with three neutralizing monoclonal antibodies showed antigenic variation among vvIBDVs. The immunogenicity induced by graded doses of classic-intermediate vaccine in both IBD-resistant (Mandarah) and susceptible (Gimmizah) Egyptian chickens was investigated. The protection of the tested doses was evaluated by measurement of the serological response and resistance to vvIBDV challenge 10 days post vaccination. Similar antibody responses to the vaccine were generated over a wide (100-fold) dose range. It was concluded that single vaccination, by eye drops, with classic-intermediate vaccine (1 x) could protect chickens against clinical disease and mortality. However, the immune responses generated by 1 x, 10 x or 100 x vaccine doses did not protect against bursal damage following challenge. This finding points to the highly invasive nature of the prevailing vvIBDVs in Egypt.     

低聚异麦芽糖对IBD中等毒力活疫苗免疫增强作用的研究

选用两种在山东省普遍使用的中等毒力IBD疫苗,将试验分成12组,分别在12日龄和19日龄两次免疫商品鸡,同时在11日龄时用低聚异麦芽糖饮水,连用7天,二免后13天人工接种vvIBDV,连续观察14天。根据血清学检测指标,囊指数,BBIX值,病理组织学检查,临床保护率和病理保护率结果,都充分表明低聚异麦芽糖对传染性法氏囊病中等毒力疫苗具有显著的免疫增强作用,而且对提高法氏囊等免疫器官的保护作用及疫苗对其损伤后的修复作用也有显著效果。     

Immunization of chickens with VP2 protein of infectious bursal disease virus expressed in Arabidopsis thaliana

Transgenic plants represent a safe, effective, and inexpensive way to produce vaccines. The immunogenicity of VP2 protein of an infectious bursal disease (IBD) virus variant E isolate expressed in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana was compared with a commercial vaccine in specific-pathogen-free broiler chickens. The VP2 coding sequence was isolated and integrated into A. thaliana genome by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. Soluble VP2 expressed in transgenic plants was used to immunize chickens. Chickens receiving oral immunization with plant-derived VP2 at 1 and 3 wk of age had an antibody response using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and 80% protection against challenge infection at 4 wk. Chickens primed with a commercial vaccine at 1 wk followed by an oral booster with VP2 expressed in plants at 3 wk of age showed 90% protection. Chickens immunized with a commercial vaccine at 1 and 3 wk showed 78% protection. Results supported the efficacy of plant-produced VP2 as a vaccine against IBD.