Abstract
BackgroundBovine necrohemorrhagic enteritis is caused by Clostridium perfringens type A. Due to the rapid progress and fatal outcome of the disease, vaccination would be of high value. In this study, C. perfringens toxins, either as native toxins or after formaldehyde inactivation, were evaluated as possible vaccine antigens. We determined whether antisera raised in calves against these toxins were able to protect against C. perfringens challenge in an intestinal loop model for bovine necrohemorrhagic enteritis.ResultsAlpha toxin and perfringolysin O were identified as the most immunogenic proteins in the vaccine preparations. All vaccines evoked a high antibody response against the causative toxins, alpha toxin and perfringolysin O, as detected by ELISA. All antibodies were able to inhibit the activity of alpha toxin and perfringolysin O in vitro. However, the antibodies raised against the native toxins were more inhibitory to the C. perfringens-induced cytotoxicity (as tested on bovine endothelial cells) and only these antibodies protected against C. perfringens challenge in the intestinal loop model.ConclusionAlthough immunization of calves with both native and formaldehyde inactivated toxins resulted in high antibody titers against alpha toxin and perfringolysin O, only antibodies raised against native toxins protect against C. perfringens challenge in an intestinal loop model for bovine necrohemorrhagic enteritis.
Highlights
Bovine necrohemorrhagic enteritis is caused by Clostridium perfringens type A
Sera obtained from calves six weeks after initial vaccination with either native toxins or the L-lysine protected, formaldehyde inactivated toxins, revealed immunoreactivity towards two proteins
The protective antisera were shown to inhibit the activity of alpha toxin and perfringolysin O, which further underscores the roles of these toxins in the pathogenesis of bovine necrohemorrhagic enteritis
Summary
Bovine necrohemorrhagic enteritis is caused by Clostridium perfringens type A. The ubiquitous, spore forming, Gram-positive bacterium Clostridium perfringens is considered to be the most widespread pathogenic bacterium in the world [1,2,3,4] It can cause a wide range of diseases including, amongst others, gas gangrene in man and necrohemorrhagic enteritis in suckling and veal calves [5,6,7,8]. Most of these diseases follow a very rapid, often fatal course. Multivalent clostridial vaccines based on formaldehyde inactivated exotoxins derived from culture supernatant are commercially available for domestic livestock, including bovines, but no studies on their efficacy for necrohemorrhagic enteritis in calves are available
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