Antibody response of swine to outer membrane components of Haemophilus pleuropneumoniae during infection

Protection of mice against the lethal effect of an intraperitoneal infection with Haemophilus (Actinobacillus) pleuropneumoniae after vaccination with capsular proteins

Haemophilus (Actinobacillus) pleuropneumoniae Serotypes 5 and 7 capsular antigens (CA-1) were precipitated from culture supernatants with N-cetyl-N,N,N,-trimethylammonium bromide (Cetavlon). CA-1 contained a carbohydrate to protein ratio of 2:1 for Serotype 5 and 3:1 for Serotype 7. Glucosamine and uronic acid were detected in CA-1 from both serotypes suggesting that the capsule contained hyaluronic acid. All mice immunized intraperitoneally with CA-1 vaccine were protected from death when challenged with 10X the LD50 of the homologous but not the heterologous serotype. Oil adjuvants and the use of young (6 h) cultures were necessary for CA-1 vaccines to be protective. Deproteinization of CA-1 with chloroform and butanol followed by pronase treatment resulted in failure to protect mice from death. The protective capsular protein antigen in CA-1 vaccine may not originate from the outer membrane (OM) since repeated washing of the OM to elute the capsular protein antigen rendered the OM vaccine completely nonprotective for mice. Vaccines prepared from cell-wall lipopolysaccharide also were nonprotective for mice. Passive immunization of mice with anti-CA-1 antibody produced in rabbits to Serotype 5 was highly protective (P less than 0.01) for mice when challenged with 10X the LD50 of the homologous serotype.

Analysis of major antigens of Haemophilus (Actinobacillus) pleuropneumoniae and related organisms

Outer membrane protein (OMP)-enriched extracts and whole-cell protein preparations of Haemophilus (Actinobacillus) pleuropneumoniae and related organisms were examined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting. Both the OMP-enriched and whole-cell protein profiles of Actinobacillus suis, A. pleuropneumoniae (NAD-independent biovar), A. lignieresii, and Pasteurella haemolytica were very similar to those of H. pleuropneumoniae serotypes 1 to 8. Antisera prepared against H. pleuropneumoniae typically recognized three major OMP antigens with approximate molecular weights of 17,000 (17K), 32K, and 42K in immunoblots of H. pleuropneumoniae serotypes 1 to 8, Actinobacillus spp., and P. haemolytica. Antisera prepared against Actinobacillus spp. and Haemophilus sp. "minor group" also recognized these 17K, 32K, and 42K antigens. Using absorbed sera, we demonstrated that the 17K antigen had an epitope (or epitopes) common to all the gram-negative organisms examined, including Escherichia coli. The 32K and 42K antigens had epitopes common to members of the family Pasteurellaceae but, in the case of the 32K antigen, also contained unique epitopes. These results provide a basis for understanding the lack of specificity of serodiagnostic tests for H. pleuropneumoniae infection and provide another line of evidence for the association of H. pleuropneumoniae with the genus Actinobacillus.