title: [The immune response in edema disease of weaned piglets measured with a recombinant B subunit of shiga-like toxin II].
abstract: An outbreak of edema disease (ED) was monitored in 80 piglets after weaning over a period of 4 weeks. The shedding of Shiga-like toxin-IIe) producing Escherichia coli strains, the serum bactericidal activity (SBA) against SLTEC-IIe, and the antibody response against SLT-IIe were investigated. The antibody response was monitored by utilizing a glutathione-S-transferase (GST) + SLT-IIe B/SUB fusion protein (FRANKE et al., in press) for immunoblot assays. E. coli-strain GO15III (0141:K85ac) was diagnosed as SLT-IIe-producing E. coli by polymerase chain reaction, DNA hybridization and cytotoxicity assays. Maximum excretion of GO15III appeared between days 8 and 15 after weaning. On day 1 after weaning no piglet shed GO15III, while the number increased on day 8 to 53 (66.2%) and on day 15 to 59 (73.8%) of the piglets. 4 week after weaning, GO15III was only isolated from 23 (28.8%) of the piglets. In parallel, serum bactericidal activity against GO15III increased significantly in the sera of 73 (91.2%) piglets, reaching a stable maximum from day 15 on. During the first two weeks after weaning, no piglet yielded detectable SLT-IIe-IgG. However, the number of SLT-IIe-IgG positive piglets increased steadily from day 15. On day 15, 5 (6.2%) piglets were positive in SLT-IIe immunoblot analysis and 29 days after weaning the number increased to 31 (38.8%). These data represent the first serological monitoring of a natural outbreak of edema disease in piglets after weaning by using a recombinant fusion protein (GST+SLT-IIe B/SUB). The recombinant protein proved to be a useful diagnostical tool for monitoring the specific antibody status of piglets.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Hygiene und Infektionskrankheiten der Tiere der Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen.
authors.forename: L H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Wieler
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Franke
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Menge
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bauerfeind
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Karch
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baljer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000276:immunology*; D004488:Edema Disease of Swine / Q000276:immunology*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000276:immunology*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D022641:Shiga Toxin 2; D013552:Swine; D014886:Weaning
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D022641:Shiga Toxin 2
vernacular_title: Untersuchungen zur Immunantwort bei der Odemkrankheit von Absetzferkeln mit einer rekombinanten B-Untereinheit des Shiga-like-Toxins-II.