title: Vaccination of pigs reduces Torque teno sus virus viremia during natural infection.
abstract: Anelloviruses are a group of single-stranded circular DNA viruses infecting several vertebrate species. Four species have been found to infect swine, namely Torque teno sus virus (TTSuV) 1a and 1b (TTSuV1a, TTSuV1b; genus Iotatorquevirus), TTSuVk2a and TTSuVk2b (genus Kappatorquevirus). TTSuV infection in pigs is distributed worldwide, and is characterized by a persistent viremia. However, the real impact, if any, on the pig health is still under debate. In the present study, the impact of pig immunization on TTSuVk2a loads was evaluated. For this, three-week old conventional pigs were primed with DNA vaccines encoding the ORF2 gene and the ORF1-A, ORF1-B, and ORF1-C splicing variants and boosted with purified ORF1-A and ORF2 Escherichia coli proteins, while another group served as unvaccinated control animals, and the viral load dynamics during natural infection was observed. Immunization led to delayed onset of TTSuVk2a infection and at the end of the study when the animals were 15 weeks of age, a number of animals in the immunized group had cleared the TTSuVk2a viremia, which was not the case in the control group. This study demonstrated for the first time that TTSuV viremia can be controlled by a combined DNA and protein immunization, especially apparent two weeks after the first DNA immunization before seroconversion was observed. Further studies are needed to understand the mechanisms behind this and its impact for pig producers.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA)-Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jiménez-Melsió
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA)-Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA)-Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Ayub
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Darji
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA)-Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Departament de Sanitat i Anatomia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Joaquim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Segalés
authors.affiliation: MSD Animal Health, P.O. Box 31, 5830 AA Boxmeer, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Vivian
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cornelissen-Keijsers
authors.affiliation: MSD Animal Health, P.O. Box 31, 5830 AA Boxmeer, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Erwin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: van den Born
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA)-Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: tuija.kekarainen@cresa.uab.cat.
authors.forename: Tuija
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kekarainen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004266:DNA Virus Infections / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000821:virology; D022783:Torque teno virus / Q000276:immunology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014611:Vaccination / Q000379:methods*; D022223:Vaccines, Subunit / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology; D019562:Viral Load; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology*; D014766:Viremia / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D022223:Vaccines, Subunit; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic; D014765:Viral Vaccines
keywords: Anelloviridae; Pigs; Seroconversion; Torque teno virus; Vaccination; Viremia