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Immune response to Neospora caninum live tachyzoites in prepubertal female calves

  • Immunology and Host-Parasite Interactions - Original Paper
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Abstract

The aim of the present study was to characterize the specific immune response in prepubertal female calves inoculated with Neospora caninum. Forty-eight N. caninum-seronegative 6-month-old Angus female calves were randomly allocated into two groups: group A calves were inoculated subcutaneously (sc) with 1 × 106 tachyzoites of the low virulence NC-Argentina LP1 isolate in sterile phosphate-buffered saline (PBS); group B calves were mock inoculated sc with sterile PBS. Calves from group A developed a specific immune response characterized by the production of IgG antibodies and the expression of IFN-γ and TNF-α cytokines. Animals did not present any febrile reaction or reactions at the site of inoculation. Although chronic N. caninum infection was developed in 50% of calves of group A after inoculation, according to the presence of antibodies against rNc-SAG4, antigen characteristic of bradyzoites, N. caninum antibodies dropped below the cut-off of ELISA from day 210 post-inoculation onwards. Future trials using the same group of inoculated animals will allow the characterization of the evolution of the immune response during pregnancy and to determine whether the immunization with the local isolate is able to prevent congenital transmission and to protect against heterologous challenges.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Silvia N.J. Moreno from the Department of Cellular Biology and Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia for critical review and helpful comments. We gratefully acknowledge the technicians and colleagues from the Animal Health Group at INTA Balcarce, specially Mrs. M.R. Leunda and S. Pereyra for their technical assistance. The authors also express their gratitude for technical assistance provided by Dr. V. Quattrocchi, Dr. C. Langellotti and M. Gamella from INTA Castelar in flow cytometry. The authors express their appreciation provided by J. Armendano for assistance in the statistical analysis.

Funding

This work was funded by a Research Grants from Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica, FONCyT, PICT 2014-323, and INTA PNSA 1115053, Argentina.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Yanina P. Hecker, Franco Fiorani, Ignacio Gual, Lucía M. Campero, Patricia I. Zamorano & Dadín P. Moore

  2. National Institute of Agrarian Technology (INTA), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Yanina P. Hecker, Franco Fiorani, Ivana Soria, Susana Torioni, Ignacio E. Echaide, Patricia I. Zamorano, Anselmo C. Odeón, Germán J. Cantón & Dadín P. Moore

  3. SALUVET, Animal Health Department, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Javier Regidor-Cerrillo, Pilar Horcajo, Gema Álvarez-García & Luis M. Ortega-Mora

  4. Faculty of Agrarian Sciences, National University of Mar del Plata, Mar del Plata, Argentina

    Franco Fiorani, Ignacio Gual & Dadín P. Moore

  5. Immunoparasitology Laboratory, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, National University of La Plata, La Plata, Argentina

    Lucía M. Campero & María C. Venturini

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  1. Yanina P. Hecker
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  2. Javier Regidor-Cerrillo
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Correspondence to Yanina P. Hecker.

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Hecker, Y.P., Regidor-Cerrillo, J., Fiorani, F. et al. Immune response to Neospora caninum live tachyzoites in prepubertal female calves. Parasitol Res 118, 2945–2955 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-019-06447-y

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