Assessment of an Enterobactin Conjugate Vaccine in Layers to Protect Their Offspring from Colibacillosis
Colibacillosis, caused by avian pathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> (APEC), is an important infectious disease in chickens and a major cause of mortality in young chicks. Therefore, protecting young chickens from colibacillosis is important for improving welfare and productivity in the po...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Pathogens |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/12/8/1002 |
| _version_ | 1797583553380220928 |
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| author | Huiwen Wang Catherine M. Logue Lisa K. Nolan Jun Lin |
| author_facet | Huiwen Wang Catherine M. Logue Lisa K. Nolan Jun Lin |
| author_sort | Huiwen Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Colibacillosis, caused by avian pathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> (APEC), is an important infectious disease in chickens and a major cause of mortality in young chicks. Therefore, protecting young chickens from colibacillosis is important for improving welfare and productivity in the poultry industry. Recently, we developed a novel enterobactin (Ent) conjugate vaccine that could induce high titers of anti-Ent immunoglobulin Y (IgY) in chicken serum and consequently mitigate the organ lesions caused by APEC infection. Considering that maternal immunization is a practical approach to confer instant immune protection to the hatchlings, in this study, we immunized breeder hens with the Ent conjugate vaccine and evaluated the maternal immune protection on the progenies challenged with APEC. Three doses of the vaccine induced high titers of anti-Ent IgY in the hens (about 16- and 64-fold higher than the control group in the sera and egg yolks, respectively), resulting in an eight-fold of increase in anti-Ent IgY in the sera of progenies. However, the anti-Ent maternal immunity did not display significant protection against APEC challenge in the young chicks as there was no significant difference in APEC load (in liver, lung, and spleen) or organ lesions (in heart, liver, spleen, lung, and air sac) between the vaccinated and control groups. In future studies, the APEC infection model needs to be optimized to exhibit proper pathogenicity of APEC, and the maternal immunization regimen can be further improved to boost the maternally derived anti-Ent IgY in the hatchlings. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:40:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-56f7f08683fd4174b0e436ad16b2abfb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0817 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:40:31Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Pathogens |
| spelling | doaj.art-56f7f08683fd4174b0e436ad16b2abfb2023-11-19T02:32:03ZengMDPI AGPathogens2076-08172023-07-01128100210.3390/pathogens12081002Assessment of an Enterobactin Conjugate Vaccine in Layers to Protect Their Offspring from ColibacillosisHuiwen Wang0Catherine M. Logue1Lisa K. Nolan2Jun Lin3Department of Animal Science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37919, USADepartment of Population Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USADepartment of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USADepartment of Animal Science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37919, USAColibacillosis, caused by avian pathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> (APEC), is an important infectious disease in chickens and a major cause of mortality in young chicks. Therefore, protecting young chickens from colibacillosis is important for improving welfare and productivity in the poultry industry. Recently, we developed a novel enterobactin (Ent) conjugate vaccine that could induce high titers of anti-Ent immunoglobulin Y (IgY) in chicken serum and consequently mitigate the organ lesions caused by APEC infection. Considering that maternal immunization is a practical approach to confer instant immune protection to the hatchlings, in this study, we immunized breeder hens with the Ent conjugate vaccine and evaluated the maternal immune protection on the progenies challenged with APEC. Three doses of the vaccine induced high titers of anti-Ent IgY in the hens (about 16- and 64-fold higher than the control group in the sera and egg yolks, respectively), resulting in an eight-fold of increase in anti-Ent IgY in the sera of progenies. However, the anti-Ent maternal immunity did not display significant protection against APEC challenge in the young chicks as there was no significant difference in APEC load (in liver, lung, and spleen) or organ lesions (in heart, liver, spleen, lung, and air sac) between the vaccinated and control groups. In future studies, the APEC infection model needs to be optimized to exhibit proper pathogenicity of APEC, and the maternal immunization regimen can be further improved to boost the maternally derived anti-Ent IgY in the hatchlings.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/12/8/1002enterobactinmaternal immunizationimmunoglobulin Yavian pathogenic <i>E. coli</i> |
| spellingShingle | Huiwen Wang Catherine M. Logue Lisa K. Nolan Jun Lin Assessment of an Enterobactin Conjugate Vaccine in Layers to Protect Their Offspring from Colibacillosis Pathogens enterobactin maternal immunization immunoglobulin Y avian pathogenic <i>E. coli</i> |
| title | Assessment of an Enterobactin Conjugate Vaccine in Layers to Protect Their Offspring from Colibacillosis |
| title_full | Assessment of an Enterobactin Conjugate Vaccine in Layers to Protect Their Offspring from Colibacillosis |
| title_fullStr | Assessment of an Enterobactin Conjugate Vaccine in Layers to Protect Their Offspring from Colibacillosis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessment of an Enterobactin Conjugate Vaccine in Layers to Protect Their Offspring from Colibacillosis |
| title_short | Assessment of an Enterobactin Conjugate Vaccine in Layers to Protect Their Offspring from Colibacillosis |
| title_sort | assessment of an enterobactin conjugate vaccine in layers to protect their offspring from colibacillosis |
| topic | enterobactin maternal immunization immunoglobulin Y avian pathogenic <i>E. coli</i> |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/12/8/1002 |
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