The indirect hemagglutination test for the detection of antibodies in cattle naturally infected mycoplasmas.
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Stable mycoplasma antigens for the indirect hemagglutination test (IHA) were prepared employing glutaraldehyde treated sheep erythrocytes sensitized with Mycoplasma agalactiae subsp. bovis and Mycoplasma bovigenitalium antigens. Employing these antigens mycoplasma antibodies were detected in sera from cattle which had mastitic symptoms due to natural infection with either M. agalactiae subsp. bovis or M. bovigenitalium. A total of 200 cows from four herds were examined at varying intervals for the presence of M. agalactiae subsp. bovis and for the detection of antibody using growth inhibition and IHA tests. Mycoplasmas were isolated from 37 animals. Growth inhibiting antibody was detected from 56 of the 200 animals. In the IHA tests, antibody titer greater than or equal to 1:80 were detected in 148 animals, 76 of these having antibody titers greater than or equal to 1:160, while sera of 116 normal control animals had no growth inhibiting antibody and none had IHA antibody titers greater than 1:40. M. bovigenitalium was isolated from the milk of three of 26 animals in a fifth herd during an outbreak of mastitis. Growth inhibiting antibodies were demonstrated in the sera of ten of the 26 animals. However, the IHA test detected antibody titers of greater than or equal to 1:160 in 13 animals and of 1:80 in one of the 26 animals. To determine the specificity of the IHA tests, M. agalactiae subsp. bovis and M. bovigenitalium antigens were reacted with rabbit hyperimmune typing sera produced against 12 species of bovine mycoplasmatales. Homologous antisera showed IHA antibody titers of 1:1280 and 1:2560 against M. agalactiae subsp. bovis and M. bovigenitalium respectively, whereas heterologous antisera showed IHA antibody titers of less than or equal to 1:20. Also eight type-specific bovine antisera were reacted with M agalactiae subsp. bovis and M. bovigenitalium antigens in homologous and heterologous tests. Homoogous reactions showed IHA antibody titers greater than or equal to 1:320, whereas heterologous reactions showed IHA titers of less than or equal to 1:20. This IHA test promises to be useful for the detection of bovine mycoplasma antibodies in sera from cattle infected with M. agalactiae subsp. bovis or M. bovigenitalium. Thes test is sensitive, reproducible and specific and the technique is relatively simple and rapid. The antigens were stable for at least seven months. (+info)
The role of colorstrum on the occurrence of immunoglobulin G subclasses and antibody production in neonatal goats.
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Quantitative determinations of IgG1 and IgG2, in one group of colostrum-fed and one group of colostrum-deprived neonatal goats revealed that the occurrence of the IgG1 subclass preceeded that of the IgG2 in both cases. In the colostrum-fed animals the IgG2 appeared, on an average, in the fourth week of life whereas in the colostrum-deprived animals the IgG2 was detected as early as three weeks after birth. At the age of twelve weeks the mean concentrations for IgG, and IgG2 were higher in the animals deprived of colostrum. The immune response to human gamma globulin was studied in colostrum-fed and colostrum-deprived neonatal goats which were immunized at birth and again after four and eight weeks. Following the first two antigen administrations a significantly higher response was obtained in the colostrum-fed neonates. However, the third injection determined a similar response in both groups. A marked suppressive effect on the immune response was observed in colostrum-fed neonatal goats when specific antibodies were present in the colostrum after preimmunization of the mothers with human gamma globulin. (+info)
The effect of route of immunization on the lapine immune response to killed Pasteurella haemolytica and the influence of aerosol challenge with the live organism.
(3/7583)
Appearance of anti-Pasteurella haemolytica antibody in the serum and broncho-alveolar washings of rabbits is independent of the route of immunization and is similar in both locations. The most influential factor in development of a humoral response is exposure to live P. haemolytica and prior exposure to the killed bacterium has no significant effect upon titre determined following aerosol challenge with live organisms. (+info)
Features of the immune response to DNA in mice. I. Genetic control.
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The genetic control of the immune response to DNA was studied in various strains of mice F1 hybrids and corresponding back-crosses immunized with single stranded DNA complexed to methylated bovine serum albumin. Anti-DNA antibody response was measured by radioimmuno-logical technique. High responder, low responder, and intermediate responder strains were found and the ability to respond to DNA was characterized as a dominant genetic trait which is not linked to the major locus of histocompatibility. Studies in back-crosses suggested that this immune response is under multigenic control. High responder mice produce both anti-double stranded DNA and anti-single stranded DNA 7S and 19S antibodies, while low responder mice produce mainly anti-single stranded DNA 19S antibodies. (+info)
Marmoset species variation in the humoral antibody response: in vivo and in vitro studies.
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A comparison of the in vivo and in vitro antibody response capabilities of two marmoset species, Saguinus fuscicollis and Saguinus oedipus oedipus, revealed the former to be superior in elaborating humoral antibody. In vivo challenges with Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and Salmonella typhi flagella consistently yielded higher antibody titres in S. fuscicollis; indeed, with LPS antigen, multiple inoculations of S.o. oedipus marmosets led ultimately to a decrease in antibody formation, in contrast to the anamnestic response of S. fuscicollis. This species differential in immune competence was also suggested in the in vitro stimulation of peripheral blood leucocytes (PBL) and spleen cells with sheep red blood cells (RBC). None of 55 S.o. oedipus PBL cultures and 49 of 89 (55%) S. fuscicollis cultures responded to the test antigen. A similar differential in response to sheep RBC was noted with the spleen cells of each species, although this report contrasts the antibody-forming potential of two marmoset species, a comparison of the immunological response profile of marmosets to those of other laboratory animals challenged with similar antigens suggests these primates may be relatively incompetent. The possible relationship between the haemopoietic chimerism of marmosets and a diminished immune competence is discussed. (+info)
Interaction of B cells with activated T cells reduces the threshold for CD40-mediated B cell activation.
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CD154-CD40 interactions are of central importance for the induction of antibody responses to T-dependent antigens. Since most anti-CD40 mAb are only weak B cell mitogens, it is believed that under physiological conditions, signals through CD40 synergize with those from other receptors on B cells to induce B cell activation. We show here that the interaction of either normal B cells, or those from CBA/N (xid) mice, with CD3-activated primary T cells in whole spleen cell cultures markedly reduces the threshold for B cell activation via CD40. Hence, these pre-activated cells undergo vigorous proliferation when stimulated with either optimal or suboptimal concentrations of weakly mitogenic anti-CD40 mAb, or with soluble CD40 ligand. Blocking experiments indicate that the establishment of this priming effect requires stimulation via CD40 itself, plus T cell-derived IL-2. In support of this concept, only CD3/CD28-pre-activated, but not CD3-pre-activated T cells induce this effect, unless the co-cultures of B cells with the latter T cells are supplemented with IL-2. Although B cells activated in this fashion do express higher levels of CD40 than naive cells, we believe that this is insufficient to explain the observed dramatic effects on their proliferative capacity. Rather we propose that T cell-dependent B cell activation induces fundamental changes in the signalling machinery invoked by ligation of CD40. It is likely that this amplification loop could play an important role during the initiation of antibody responses to T-dependent antigens, when activated CD4 T cells only express low levels of CD154. (+info)
Efficient IgG-mediated suppression of primary antibody responses in Fcgamma receptor-deficient mice.
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IgG antibodies can suppress more than 99% of the antibody response against the antigen to which they bind. This is used clinically to prevent rhesus-negative (Rh-) women from becoming immunized against Rh+ erythrocytes from their fetuses. The suppressive mechanism is poorly understood, but it has been proposed that IgG/erythrocyte complexes bind to the inhibitory Fc receptor for IgG (FcgammaRIIB) on the B cell surface, thereby triggering negative signals that turn off the B cell. We show that IgG induces the same degree of suppression of the response to sheep erythrocytes in animals lacking the known IgG-binding receptors FcgammaRIIB, FcgammaRI + III, FcgammaRI + IIB + III, and FcRn (the neonatal Fc receptor) as in wild-type animals. Reinvestigation of the ability of F(ab')2 fragments to suppress antibody responses demonstrated that they were nearly as efficient as intact IgG. In addition, monoclonal IgE also was shown to be suppressive. These findings suggest that IgG inhibits antibody responses through Fc-independent mechanisms, most likely by masking of antigenic epitopes, thereby preventing B cells from binding and responding to antigen. In agreement with this, we show that T cell priming is not abolished by passively administered IgG. The results have implications for the understanding of in vivo regulation of antibody responses and Rh prophylaxis. (+info)
Innate and acquired humoral immunities to influenza virus are mediated by distinct arms of the immune system.
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"Natural" Igs, mainly IgM, comprise part of the innate immune system present in healthy individuals, including antigen-free mice. These Igs are thought to delay pathogenicity of infecting agents until antigen-induced high affinity Igs of all isotypes are produced. Previous studies suggested that the acquired humoral response arises directly from the innate response, i.e., that B cells expressing natural IgM, upon antigen encounter, differentiate to give rise both to cells that secrete high amounts of IgM and to cells that undergo affinity maturation and isotype switching. However, by using a murine model of influenza virus infection, we demonstrate here that the B cells that produce natural antiviral IgM neither increase their IgM production nor undergo isotype switching to IgG2a in response to the infection. These cells are distinct from the B cells that produce the antiviral response after encounter with the pathogen. Our data therefore demonstrate that the innate and the acquired humoral immunities to influenza virus are separate effector arms of the immune system and that antigen exposure per se is not sufficient to increase natural antibody production. (+info)