A class Ⅰ lentogenic newcastle disease virus strain confers effective protection against the prevalent strains

Evaluation of adjuvant activity of Astragaloside VII and its combination with different immunostimulating agents in Newcastle Disease vaccine

Astragaloside VII (AST-VII), a major cycloartane saponin isolated from Turkish Astragalus species, turned out to be one of the most active metabolites demonstrating Th1/Th2 balanced immune response. As Quillaja saponins are extensively used in adjuvant systems, this study made an attempt to improve AST-VII based adjuvant systems by using different immunostimulatory/delivery agents (monophosphoryllipid A (MPL), Astragalus polysaccharide (APS) and squalene) and to induce cellular and humoral immune response against a viral vaccine. For this purpose, Newcastle Disease vaccine (NDV) was chosen as a model vaccine. Swiss albino mice were immunized subcutaneously with LaSota vaccines in the presence/absence of AST-VII or developed adjuvant systems. AST-VII administration both in live/inactivated LaSota vaccines induced neutralizing and NDV specific IgG, IgG1 and IgG2b antibodies response as well as IL-2 and IL-4 production. APS based delivery systems enhanced the production of neutralizing antibody and the minor augmentation of IFN-γ and IL-2 levels. Squalene emulsion (SE) alone or combined with AST-VII were effective in NDV restimulated splenocyte proliferation. As a conclusion, AST-VII and AST-VII containing adjuvant systems demonstrated Th1/Th2 balanced antibody and cellular immune responses in NDV vaccines. Thus, these systems could be developed as vaccine adjuvants in viral vaccines as alternative to saponin-based adjuvants.

Towards Improved Use of Vaccination in the Control of Infectious Bronchitis and Newcastle Disease in Poultry: Understanding the Immunological Mechanisms

Infectious bronchitis (IB) and Newcastle disease (ND) are two important diseases of poultry and have remained a threat to the development of the poultry industry in many parts of the world. The immunology of avian has been well studied and numerous vaccines have been developed against the two viruses. Most of these vaccines are either inactivated vaccines or live attenuated vaccines. Inactivated vaccines induce weak cellular immune responses and require priming with live or other types of vaccines. Advanced technology has been used to produce several types of vaccines that can initiate prime immune responses. However, as a result of rapid genetic variations, the control of these two viral infections through vaccination has remained a challenge. Using various strategies such as combination of live attenuated and inactivated vaccines, development of IB/ND vaccines, use of DNA vaccines and transgenic plant vaccines, the problem is being surmounted. It is hoped that with increasing understanding of the immunological mechanisms in birds that are used in fighting these viruses, a more successful control of the diseases will be achieved. This will go a long way in contributing to global food security and the economic development of many developing countries, given the role of poultry in the attainment of these goals.