Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Animal and Natural Resources Institute, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA.
Vaccine. 2010 Apr 9;28(17):2980-5. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2010.02.011. Epub 2010 Feb 21.
Intestinal infection with Eimeria, the etiologic agent of avian coccidiosis, stimulates protective immunity to subsequent colonization by the homologous parasite, while cross-protection against heterologous species is poor. As a first step toward the development of a broad specificity Eimeria vaccine, this study was designed to assess a purified recombinant protein from Eimeria maxima gametocytes (Gam82) in stimulating immunity against experimental infection with live parasites. Following Gam82 intramuscular immunization and oral parasite challenge, body weight gain, fecal oocyst output, lesion scores, serum antibody response, and cytokine production were assessed to evaluate vaccination efficacy. Animals vaccinated with Gam82 and challenged with E. maxima showed lower oocyst shedding and reduced intestinal pathology compared with non-vaccinated and parasite-challenged animals. Gam82 vaccination also stimulated the production of antigen-specific serum antibodies and induced greater levels of IL-2 and IL-15 mRNAs compared with non-vaccinated controls. These results demonstrate that the Gam82 recombinant protein protects against E. maxima and augments humoral and cell-mediated immunity.
鸡球虫病的病原体艾美耳属（Eimeria）肠道感染可刺激对同源寄生虫随后定植的保护性免疫，而对异源种的交叉保护作用较差。作为开发广谱特异性艾美耳属疫苗的第一步，本研究旨在评估来自柔嫩艾美耳球虫（Eimeria maxima）配子体的纯化重组蛋白（Gam82）对活寄生虫感染的免疫刺激作用。在 Gam82 肌肉内免疫和口服寄生虫攻击后，评估体重增加、粪便卵囊排出量、病变评分、血清抗体反应和细胞因子产生，以评估疫苗的功效。与未接种和寄生虫攻击的动物相比，用 Gam82 接种并接受 E. maxima 挑战的动物的卵囊脱落减少，肠道病理学减轻。Gam82 疫苗接种还刺激了抗原特异性血清抗体的产生，并诱导了比未接种对照组更高水平的 IL-2 和 IL-15 mRNA。这些结果表明，Gam82 重组蛋白可预防 E. maxima 感染并增强体液和细胞介导的免疫。
