Vaccination of calves with Haemonchus placei intestinal homogenate

Abstract

The ability of adult Haemonchus placei intestinal homogenate to confer protection against homologous challenge infection was evaluated. Calves were immunized twice with 100 μg H. placei intestinal protein in 5% dextran-sulfate/PBS (vaccinates) or PBS alone (controls) and were challenged with approximately 3300 infective H. placei larvae. There was no significant difference between groups in the total number of nematodes recovered but significantly fewer ( p < 0.001) adult females were recovered from vaccinates. The proportion of fourth-stage larvae in vaccinates was significantly greater ( p ≤ 0.05) than in controls. Lengths of adult male and female nematodes were significantly shorter ( p < 0.001) in vaccinated calves, and the numbers of eggs present in the uteri of female nematodes from vaccinates were significantly decreased ( p < 0.001). Counts of nematode eggs per gram of feces (EPG) of vaccinates were significantly less than that for controls on Days 29–49 post-challenge ( p ≤ 0.05). Vaccinates had significant increases in serum IgG 1 and IgG 2 log(10) titers ( p ≤ 0.05) but not in serum IgM. EPG, numbers of females, and size of males and females were negatively correlated with increased mean post-challenge IgG 1 and IgG 2 titers. Reduction in binding of periodate-treated gut homogenate by immune serum indicated a carbohydrate specific component in the immune response.