U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service, Lincoln, Nebraska
Date of this Version
5-2002
Citation
Infection And Immunity, 70(5): May 2002, P. 2414–2418
Abstract
Cattle are important reservoirs of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:H7 that cause disease in humans. Both dairy and beef cattle are asymptomatically and sporadically infected with EHEC. Our long-term goal is to develop an effective vaccine to prevent cattle from becoming infected and transmitting EHEC O157:H7 to humans. We used passive immunization of neonatal piglets (as a surrogate model) to determine if antibodies against EHEC O157 adhesin (intiminO157) inhibit EHEC colonization. Pregnant swine (dams) with serum anti-intimin titers of ≤100 were vaccinated twice with purified intiminO157 or shamvaccinated with sterile buffer. IntiminO157-specific antibody titers in colostrum and serum of dams were increased after parenteral vaccination with intiminO157. Neonatal piglets were allowed to suckle vaccinated or sham-vaccinated dams for up to 8 h before they were inoculated with 106 CFU of a Shiga toxin-negative (for humane reasons) strain of EHEC O157:H7. Piglets were necropsied at 2 to 10 days after inoculation, and intestinal samples were collected for determination of bacteriological counts and histopathological analysis. Piglets that ingested colostrum containing intiminO157-specific antibodies from vaccinated dams, but not those nursing sham-vaccinated dams, were protected from EHEC O157:H7 colonization and intestinal damage. These results establish intiminO157 as a viable candidate for an EHEC O157:H7 antitransmission vaccine.