Protective efficacy of monoclonal antibodies to class 1 and class 3 outer membrane proteins of Neisseria meningitidis B:15:P1.16 in infant rat infection model: new prospects for vaccine development.

The protective efficacy of monoclonal antibodies to class 1 and class 3 outer membrane proteins of Neisseria meningitidis B:15:P1.16 was tested in an infant rat infection model. Four monoclonal antibodies to class 1 protein had bactericidal titres exceeding 20,000 and they protected infant rats completely against bacterial challenge with meningococci carrying the same class 1 protein, P1.16. One monoclonal antibody to class 3 protein was highly bactericidal (titer greater than 20,000), whereas two others had no bactericidal activity. All these antibodies gave some protection from infection, resulting in mortalities varying from 66 to 83% as compared to 100% in control rats who had received either unrelated monoclonal antibody or saline. These results strongly speak for class 1 outer membrane protein as a vaccine candidate for meningococcus group B.