Comparative immune responses after vaccination with the formulated inactivated African horse sickness vaccine serotype 1 between naïve horses and pretreated horses with the live-attenuated African horse sickness vaccine

Narongsak Chaiyabutr; Suphot Wattanaphansak; Rachod Tantilerdcharoen; Surasak Akesowan; Suraseha Ouisuwan; Darm Naraporn

doi:10.14202/vetworld.2022.2365-2375

Comparative immune responses after vaccination with the formulated inactivated African horse sickness vaccine serotype 1 between naïve horses and pretreated horses with the live-attenuated African horse sickness vaccine

Vet World. 2022 Oct;15(10):2365-2375. doi: 10.14202/vetworld.2022.2365-2375. Epub 2022 Oct 7.

Authors

Narongsak Chaiyabutr^{1

2}, Suphot Wattanaphansak³, Rachod Tantilerdcharoen⁴, Surasak Akesowan⁵, Suraseha Ouisuwan⁵, Darm Naraporn⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Research and Development, Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute, Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok, Thailand.
² Department of Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
³ Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Science Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
⁴ Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Faculty of Veterinary Science Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
⁵ Horse Farm and Laboratory Animal Breeding Centre, Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute, Thai Red Cross Society, Petchaburi, Thailand.

Abstract

Background and aim: African horse sickness (AHS) is a non-contagious, high mortality, and insect-borne disease caused by a double-stranded RNA virus from the genus Orbivirus. The study aimed to develop inactivated vaccines serotype 1 inactivated AHS vaccine (IAV) and to compare the effect of IAV on antibody responses in young naïve horses and adult horses pre-immunized with live-attenuated AHS virus (AHSV) serotypes 1, 3, and 4 live-attenuated vaccine (LAV).

Materials and methods: A total of 27 horses were vaccinated in two trials. Twelve AHS naïve young horses and 15 adult horses were divided into three groups of 4 and 5 horses each, respectively. Horses in control Group 1 were treated with phosphate-buffered saline. Horses in Group 2 were subcutaneously vaccinated with 2 mL of formulated IAV with 10% Gel 01™ (Seppic, France) on day 0 and horses in Group 3 were subcutaneously vaccinated with 2 mL of IAV on day 0 and a booster on day 28. The IAV vaccine was prepared by isolating the AHSV serotype 1 growing on Vero cells, 10× virus titer was concentrated by ultrafiltration and chemically killed by formalin, using 10% Gel 01™ as an adjuvant. Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid blood samples were taken for hematology, blood biochemistry, and antibody titers using an immunoperoxidase monolayer assay on 158^th day post-vaccination.

Results: Vaccination with IAV serotype 1 in adult horses pretreated with LAV increased antibody titers more than in young naïve vaccinated horses. The total leukocyte count and %neutrophils significantly increased, while %lymphocytes and %eosinophils significantly decreased on day 1 after vaccination; no local reactions were observed at the site of injection in any group. All biochemical and electrolyte analyte values were within the normal range after vaccination.

Conclusion: The formulation of IAV serotype 1 using Gel 01™ as an adjuvant is safe and induces high antibody titers. This IAV formulation induced a high antibody response in horses without causing local reactions and mild systemic effects. However, AHS naïve horses still required ≥2 vaccinations and an annual booster vaccination to achieve high antibody titers.

Keywords: African horse sickness; inactivated vaccine; naïve young horse.