Protection against infection with Vibrio cholerae by passive transfer of monoclonal antibodies to outer membrane antigens.

Ten monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), produced by hybridomas obtained through the cell fusion of mouse myeloma cells and spleen cells from mice immunized with outer membrane antigens of Vibrio cholerae, were mixed with suspensions of V. cholerae and administered orally to infant rabbits. Six of these MAbs, each one recognizing a different outer membrane antigen, did not confer protection from fatal V. cholerae infection. Four MAbs that reacted with the 18-kDa antigen, also called the cholera protective antigen, were highly protective against infection with V. cholerae.