Specific humoral immune response induced by propionibacterium acnes can prevent Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae infection in mice.

Abstract

Porcine contagious pleuropneumonia, caused by Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, has a major impact on economics, ecology, and animal welfare in the pig-rearing industry. Propionibacterium acnes, a facultative anaerobic Gram-positive corynebacterium, exists widely in normal healthy adult animals. We have shown previously that P. acnes can prevent A. pleuropneumoniae infections in mice and pigs. To elucidate the mechanism of this effect and to identify novel A. pleuropneumoniae vaccines, the role of anti-P. acnes antibodies in preventing infection was analyzed by indirect immunofluorescence and opsonophagocytosis assays in vitro. The role of the specific humoral immune response induced by P. acnes was confirmed in a B cell depletion mouse model. The survival rates of mice challenged with A. pleuropneumoniae exhibited a highly significant positive rank correlation with the levels of anti-P. acnes antibodies. The specific antibodies induced by P. acnes had the ability to combine with A. pleuropneumoniae and increase opsonization of A. pleuropneumoniae for phagocytosis. Furthermore, analysis in the murine B cell depletion model confirmed that the humoral immune response induced by P. acnes played an important role in resistance to A. pleuropneumoniae infection. In this study, we further elucidated the reasons that P. acnes can prevent A. pleuropneumoniae infection, which provides useful evidence for the development of heterologous vaccines for the control of porcine contagious pleuropneumonia.

• Authors: Feng Yang, Qiuyue Ma, Liancheng Lei, Jing Huang, Qun Ji, Ruidong Zhai, Lei Wang, Yu Wang, Linxi Li, Changjiang Sun, Xin Feng, Wenyu Han
• Journal: Clinical and vaccine immunology : CVI (Clin Vaccine Immunol) Vol. 21 Issue 3 Pg. 407-16 (Mar 2014) ISSN: 1556-679X [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 24429068 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Antibodies, Bacterial

Topics

• Actinobacillus Infections (immunology, prevention & control)
• Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (immunology)
• Animals
• Antibodies, Bacterial (immunology)
• Cross Protection
• Disease Models, Animal
• Female
• Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect
• Mice
• Mice, Inbred BALB C
• Phagocytosis
• Pleuropneumonia, Contagious (immunology, prevention & control)
• Propionibacterium acnes (immunology)
• Survival Analysis