Dataset Information

Multivalent HA DNA vaccination protects against highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza infection in chickens and mice.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Sustained outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 in avian species increase the risk of reassortment and adaptation to humans. The ability to contain its spread in chickens would reduce this threat and help maintain the capacity for egg-based vaccine production. While vaccines offer the potential to control avian disease, a major concern of current vaccines is their potency and inability to protect against evolving avian influenza viruses.

Methodology / principal findings

The ability of DNA vaccines encoding hemagglutinin (HA) proteins from different HPAI H5N1 serotypes was evaluated for its ability to elicit neutralizing antibodies and to protect against homologous and heterologous HPAI H5N1 strain challenge in mice and chickens after DNA immunization by needle and syringe or with a pressure injection device. These vaccines elicited antibodies that neutralized multiple strains of HPAI H5N1 when given in combinations containing up to 10 HAs. The response was dose-dependent, and breadth was determined by the choice of the influenza virus HA in the vaccine. Monovalent and trivalent HA vaccines were tested first in mice and conferred protection against lethal H5N1 A/Vietnam/1203/2004 challenge 68 weeks after vaccination. In chickens, protection was observed against heterologous strains of HPAI H5N1 after vaccination with a trivalent H5 serotype DNA vaccine with doses as low as 5 microg DNA given twice either by intramuscular needle injection or with a needle-free device.

Conclusions/significance

DNA vaccines offer a generic approach to influenza virus immunization applicable to multiple animal species. In addition, the ability to substitute plasmids encoding different strains enables rapid adaptation of the vaccine to newly evolving field isolates.

SUBMITTER: Rao S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2657001 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Although vaccination of poultry for control of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) H5N1 has been practiced during the last decade in several countries, its effectiveness under field conditions remains largely unquantified. Effective HPAI vaccination is however essential in preventing incursions, silent infections and generation of new H5N1 antigenic variants. The objective of this study was to asses the level and duration of vaccine induced immunity in commercial layers in Indonesia. Titres of H5N1 haemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibodies were followed in individual birds from sixteen flocks, age 18-68 week old (wo). The study revealed that H5N1 vaccination had highly variable outcome, including vaccination failures, and was largely ineffective in providing long lasting protective immunity. Flocks were vaccinated with seven different vaccines, administer at various times that could be grouped into three regimes: In regime A, flocks (n = 8) were vaccinated two or three times before 19 wo; in regime B (n = 2), two times before and once after 19 wo; and in regime C (n = 6) three to four times before and two to three times after 19 wo. HI titres in regime C birds were significantly higher during the entire observation period in comparison to titres of regime A or B birds, which also differed significantly from each other. The HI titres of individual birds in each flock differed significantly from birds in other flocks, indicating that the effectiveness of field vaccination was highly variable and farm related. Protective HI titres of >4log2, were present in the majority of flocks at 18 wo, declined thereafter at variable rate and only two regime C flocks had protective HI titres at 68 wo. Laboratory challenge with HPAIV H5N1 of birds from regime A and C flocks confirmed that protective immunity differed significantly between flocks vaccinated by these two regimes. The study revealed that effectiveness of the currently applied H5N1 vaccination could be improved and measures to achieve this are discussed.

Project description:The highly pathogenic (HP) H5N1 avian influenza viruses (AIVs) cause a mortality rate of up to 100% in infected chickens and pose a permanent pandemic threat. Attempts to obtain effective vaccines against H5N1 HPAIVs have focused on hemagglutinin (HA), an immunodominant viral antigen capable of eliciting neutralizing antibodies. The vast majority of vaccine projects have been performed using eukaryotic expression systems. In contrast, we used a bacterial expression system to produce vaccine HA protein (bacterial HA) according to our own design. The HA protein with the sequence of the H5N1 HPAIV strain was efficiently expressed in Escherichia coli, recovered in the form of inclusion bodies and refolded by dilution between two chromatographic purification steps. Antigenicity studies showed that the resulting antigen, referred to as rH5-E. coli, preserves conformational epitopes targeted by antibodies specific for H5-subtype HAs, inhibiting hemagglutination and/or neutralizing influenza viruses in vitro. The proper conformation of this protein and its ability to form functional oligomers were confirmed by a hemagglutination test. Consistent with the biochemical characteristics, prime-boost immunizations with adjuvanted rH5-E. coli protected 100% and 70% of specific pathogen-free, layer-type chickens against challenge with homologous and heterologous H5N1 HPAIVs, respectively. The observed protection was related to the positivity in the FluAC H5 test (IDVet) but not to hemagglutination-inhibiting antibody titers. Due to full protection, the effective contact transmission of the homologous challenge virus did not occur. Survivors from both challenges did not or only transiently shed the viruses, as established by viral RNA detection in oropharyngeal and cloacal swabs. Our results demonstrate that vaccination with rH5-E. coli could confer control of H5N1 HPAIV infection and transmission rates in chicken flocks, accompanied by reduced virus shedding. Moreover, the role of H5 subtype-specific neutralizing antibodies in anti-influenza immunity and a novel correlate of protection are indicated.