Vaccination of pregnant dams with intimin(O157) protects suckling piglets from Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection.
Cattle are important reservoirs of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:H7 that cause disease in humans. Both dairy and beef cattle are asymptomatically and sporadically infected with EHEC. Our long-term goal is to develop an effective vaccine to prevent cattle from becoming infected and transmitting EHEC O157:H7 to humans. We used passive immunization of neonatal piglets (as a surrogate model) to determine if antibodies against EHEC O157 adhesin (intimin(O157)) inhibit EHEC colonization. Pregnant swine (dams) with serum anti-intimin titers of < or =100 were vaccinated twice with purified intimin(O157) or sham-vaccinated with sterile buffer. Intimin(O157)-specific antibody titers in colostrum and serum of dams were increased after parenteral vaccination with intimin(O157). Neonatal piglets were allowed to suckle vaccinated or sham-vaccinated dams for up to 8 h before they were inoculated with 10(6) CFU of a Shiga toxin-negative (for humane reasons) strain of EHEC O157:H7. Piglets were necropsied at 2 to 10 days after inoculation, and intestinal samples were collected for determination of bacteriological counts and histopathological analysis. Piglets that ingested colostrum containing intimin(O157)-specific antibodies from vaccinated dams, but not those nursing sham-vaccinated dams, were protected from EHEC O157:H7 colonization and intestinal damage. These results establish intimin(O157) as a viable candidate for an EHEC O157:H7 antitransmission vaccine.
Dean-Nystrom
Evelyn A
EA
Pre-Harvest Food Safety and Enteric Diseases Research Unit, National Animal Disease Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Ames, Iowa 50010, USA. enystrom@nadc.ars.usda.gov
Gansheroff
Lisa J
LJ
Mills
Melody
M
Moon
Harley W
HW
O'Brien
Alison D
AD
D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D000833:Animals, Suckling; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D003126:Colostrum / Q000502:physiology; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000276:immunology*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D022361:Escherichia coli Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D013552:Swine; D014611:Vaccination
D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D022361:Escherichia coli Vaccines; C073819:eaeA protein, E coli