Development and Evaluation of Clostridium perfringens Type D Toxoid Vaccines

Field Evaluation of Novel Combination Vaccines Against Foot and Mouth Disease Virus and Clostridium perfringens Toxoid Using Different Immunization Protocols

Background: Foot and mouth disease (FMD) and enterotoxaemia are serious livestock diseases. The livestock industry has suffered heavy economic losses, especially in developing countries. Objectives: These two diseases can be effectively controlled and prevented via vaccination. To prepare multivalent vaccines, Clostridium perfringens (B, C, and D) toxoids were mixed with foot and mouth disease virus (FMDV; type O) along with adjuvants aluminum hydroxide and Montanide ISA206. Methods: According to the guidelines of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and pharmacopeia, sheep were the target animals. Following the injection of vaccines, ELISA and virus neutralization test (VNT) antibody titers determined the effectiveness of the test vaccines. Results: The combination vaccine with ISA206 adjuvant resulted in anti-enterotoxaemia and anti-FMD antibody titers higher than OIE values and pharmacopeia standards. A statistically significant difference was found between the combination vaccine groups with and without Montanide ISA206 adjuvant for anti-enterotoxaemia antibody titers after the second vaccination (P < 0.05). In contrast, the mean VNT antibody titer of the combined vaccine against serotype O with ISA206 adjuvant was significantly higher than that of other FMD vaccine groups (P < 0.05). Moreover, all vaccinated groups (A, B, C, D, E, Fand G) displayed significantly higher than the negative control group (P < 0.05). Conclusions: This study showed that enterotoxaemia-FMD combined vaccines could replace traditional livestock vaccines on an industrial scale.

Production, immunogenicity, stability, and safety of a vaccine against Clostridium perfringens beta toxins

Background and Aim:

The beta toxin is causing the most severe Clostridium perfringens-related diseases. This work was dedicated to developing a vaccine against beta toxin using C. perfringens type C (NCTC 3180).

Materials and Methods:

The crude toxoid harvest contained 710 limits of flocculation (Lf)/mL. The vaccine was formulated. Each 1 mL of the final vaccine product contained at least 50 Lf/mL of beta toxoids, 0.2 mL 3% aluminum hydroxide gel (equivalent to 5.18 mg of aluminum), <0.001% W/V thiomersal, formaldehyde <0.05% W/V, and ~0.7 mL phosphate-buffered saline (pH 7.2). The efficacy of the vaccine was evaluated by potency, stability, and safety tests.

Results:

The vaccine demonstrated 24.36 IU/mL (standard deviation, ±0.56) and 14.74 IU/mL (±0.36) of neutralizing antibodies in rabbits and cattle, respectively. Indeed, these levels were above the minimum recommended by international protocols since the obtained antibody levels had 2.43- and 1.47-fold increase in both rabbits and cattle, respectively, over the minimum antitoxin level suggested by the United States Department of Agriculture. Interestingly, our formulation was capable of inducing 1.65-fold higher immune responses in rabbits than that stimulated in cattle (65% increase) with a significant difference (p<0.0001). The vaccine was stable up to 30 months. The vaccinated rabbits were suffered from a temporarily slight increase in temperatures in the first 10 h without any significant difference (p>0.05).

Conclusion:

The research showed a procedure for the manufacturing process of the vaccine against C. perfringens beta toxins with a feasible quantity and the vaccine described here showed to be effective in eliciting levels of neutralizing antibodies higher than required by international standards. In addition, The vaccine was stable up to 30 months. Thus, it may represent an effective and safe for preventing C. perfringens-related diseases in rabbits and cattle, although further studies to prove its efficacy in the field on other farm animals are still needed.