Efficacy of parenteral vaccination against tuberculosis with heat-inactivated Mycobacterium bovis in experimentally challenged goats

PLoS One. 2018 May 9;13(5):e0196948. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0196948. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) in animals is a re-emerging disease with a wide range of hosts that causes large economic losses in livestock. Goats are particularly susceptible to TB and, in endemic areas, vaccination may be a valuable measure to control the disease. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of parenteral vaccination of goats with a heat-inactivated Mycobacterium bovis (HIMB) vaccine, and compare it to M. bovis Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine. Twenty-four goat kids were divided in 3 groups as following: HIMB vaccinated group (n = 8), BCG vaccinated group (n = 8) and unvaccinated group (n = 8). Afterwards, goats were experimentally challenged with Mycobacterium caprae by the endobronchial route. Antigen specific interferon-γ release assays and serology were performed after vaccination and challenge. Pathological and bacteriological parameters were evaluated after necropsy at 9 weeks post-challenge (p.c.). HIMB vaccine showed similar levels of protection to BCG in terms of volume reduction of thoracic TB lesions, presence of extra-pulmonary lesions, as well as a slight reduction of bacterial load in pulmonary lymph nodes. Moreover, HIMB vaccine did not induce interferences on the interferon-γ release assay based on reagents previously developed to differentiate infected from BCG vaccinated individuals. The results indicate that HIMB is a suitable vaccine candidate for further larger-scale trials under field conditions in goats.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • BCG Vaccine / administration & dosage
  • Goats / microbiology
  • Hot Temperature
  • Lung / drug effects
  • Lung / microbiology
  • Mycobacterium bovis / pathogenicity*
  • Tuberculosis / microbiology
  • Tuberculosis / prevention & control*
  • Tuberculosis / veterinary
  • Vaccination / methods*
  • Vaccines, Inactivated / administration & dosage*

Substances

  • BCG Vaccine
  • Vaccines, Inactivated

Grants and funding

This research was partially supported by grant RTA2015-0043-C02-01 from Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA, www.inia.es), co-funded by European Funds Regional Developement (FEDER). Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA) is supported by Centres de Recerca de Catalunya (CERCA) Programme / Generalitat de Catalunya (www.cerca.cat). Claudia Arrieta-Villegas holds a pre-doctoral scholarship from INIA (FPI-INIA, grant No. CPD2016-0109). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.