Hedges J F, Balasuriya U B, Ahmad S, Timoney P J, McCollum W H, Yilma T, MacLachlan N J
Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis 95616, USA.
J Virol Methods. 1998 Dec;76(1-2):127-37. doi: 10.1016/s0166-0934(98)00131-1.
Indirect enzyme linked immunosorbant assays (ELISAs) utilizing the three major structural proteins (M, N, and G(L)) of equine arteritis virus (EAV) expressed from recombinant baculoviruses were developed. A large panel of sera collected from uninfected horses, and from animals experimentally and naturally infected with EAV or vaccinated with the modified live virus vaccine against equine viral arteritis, were used to characterize the humoral immune response of horses to the three major EAV structural proteins. The data suggest that the M protein was the major target of the equine antibody response to EAV. The responses of individual animals varied and ELISAs that utilized individual EAV structural proteins were not reliable for detecting antibodies in all sera that contained neutralizing antibodies to EAV. An ELISA based on a cocktail of all three EAV structural proteins, however, was used successfully to detect antibodies in most equine sera that were positive in the standard serum neutralization assay following natural or experimental EAV infection (100% specificity, 92.3% sensitivity). In contrast, this ELISA did not reliably detect antibodies in the sera of vaccinated horses. EAV frequently causes a persistent infection in stallions and all sera from carrier stallions evaluated in this study had obvious reactivity with the N protein, whereas seropositive non-carrier stallions, mares and geldings did not respond consistently to the N protein.
利用重组杆状病毒表达的马动脉炎病毒（EAV）的三种主要结构蛋白（M、N和G(L)）开发了间接酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）。使用从未感染马以及从实验性和自然感染EAV或接种马病毒性动脉炎改良活病毒疫苗的动物中收集的大量血清，来表征马对三种主要EAV结构蛋白的体液免疫反应。数据表明，M蛋白是马对EAV抗体反应的主要靶点。个体动物的反应各不相同，利用单个EAV结构蛋白的ELISA对于检测所有含有针对EAV中和抗体的血清中的抗体并不可靠。然而，基于所有三种EAV结构蛋白混合物的ELISA成功用于检测大多数在自然或实验性EAV感染后在标准血清中和试验中呈阳性的马血清中的抗体（特异性100%，敏感性92.3%）。相比之下，这种ELISA不能可靠地检测接种疫苗马血清中的抗体。EAV经常在种马中引起持续性感染，本研究中评估的所有携带种马的血清与N蛋白都有明显反应，而血清阳性的非携带种马、母马和去势公马对N蛋白的反应并不一致。
