Production, characterization and protective effect of monoclonal antibodies to Haemophilus paragallinarum serotype A.

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to Haemophilus paragallinarum serotype A were obtained by fusion of murine myeloma cells (P3-X63-Ag8-U1) and spleen cells from BALB/c mice immunized with whole cells of strain 221. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay with whole cells was used to show that the monoclonal antibodies are specific for serotype A of H. paragallinarum. Four monoclonal antibodies indicated hemagglutination-inhibition (HAI) activity against serotype A; their titers were 10(4)-10(5). By western blotting, two of these monoclonal antibodies reacted with a protein of molecular weight 39,000. Chickens treated with mAbs possessing HAI activity survived without clinical signs of infection. No challenge strain was isolated from these chickens, indicating that four mAbs with HAI activity suppressed growth of the challenge strain in the nasal cavity, whereas mAbs without HAI activity showed no passive protective effect. These results demonstrated that HI antibodies contributed to protection, and strongly suggest that hemagglutinin (HA) antigen, especially the epitopes which were recognized by these mAbs are important for protective immunity in chickens.