title: Detection of total and PRRSV-specific antibodies in oral fluids collected with different rope types from PRRSV-vaccinated and experimentally infected pigs.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Oral fluid collected by means of ropes has the potential to replace serum for monitoring and surveillance of important swine pathogens. Until now, the most commonly used method to collect oral fluid is by hanging a cotton rope in a pen. However, concerns about the influence of rope material on subsequent immunological assays have been raised. In this study, we evaluated six different rope materials for the collection of oral fluid and the subsequent detection of total and PRRSV-specific antibodies of different isotypes in oral fluid collected from PRRSV-vaccinated and infected pigs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  An initial experiment showed that IgA is the predominant antibody isotype in porcine saliva. Moreover, it was found that synthetic ropes may yield higher amounts of IgA, whereas all rope types seemed to be equally suitable for IgG collection. Although IgA is the predominant antibody isotype in porcine oral fluid, the PRRSV-specific IgA-based IPMA and ELISA tests were clearly not ideal for sensitive detection of PRRSV-specific IgA antibodies. In contrast, PRRSV-specific IgG in oral fluids was readily detected in PRRSV-specific IgG-based IPMA and ELISA tests, indicating that IgG is a more reliable isotype for monitoring PRRSV-specific antibody immunity in vaccinated/infected animals via oral fluids with the currently available tests.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Since PRRSV-specific IgG detection seems more reliable than PRRSV-specific IgA detection for monitoring PRRSV-specific antibody immunity via oral fluids, and since all rope types yield equal amounts of IgG, it seems that the currently used cotton ropes are an appropriate choice for sample collection in PRRSV monitoring.
authors.affiliation: Operational Direction Viral Diseases, Enzootic and (re)emerging diseases, CODA-CERVA, Groeselenberg 99, 1180 Ukkel, Belgium. Inge.Decorte@coda-cerva.be.
authors.forename: Inge
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Decorte
authors.forename: Wander
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Van Breedam
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Van der Stede
authors.forename: Hans J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Nauwynck
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: De Regge
authors.forename: Ann Brigitte
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Cay
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood / Q000737:chemistry*; D002188:Cannabis; D032561:Cotton Fiber; D005260:Female; D007132:Immunoglobulin Isotypes / Q000097:blood / Q000737:chemistry; D009757:Nylons; D011091:Polyesters; D019318:Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000821:virology; D019316:Porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome virus / Q000276:immunology*; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000662:veterinary*; D013552:Swine; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007132:Immunoglobulin Isotypes; D009757:Nylons; D011091:Polyesters; D014765:Viral Vaccines