Immunogenicity and Protection against <i>Mycobacterium caprae</i> Challenge in Goats Vaccinated with BCG and Revaccinated after One Year

oleh: Claudia Arrieta-Villegas, Enric Vidal, Maite Martín, Judit Verdés, Xavier Moll, Yvonne Espada, Mahavir Singh, Bernardo Villarreal-Ramos, Mariano Domingo, Bernat Pérez de Val

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2020-12-01

Deskripsi

Vaccination has been proposed as a supplementary tool for the control of tuberculosis in livestock. The long-term immunogenicity elicited by bacillus Calmette–Guerin (BCG) and the efficacy of revaccination were investigated in thirty goat kids distributed into three groups: unvaccinated controls, BCG (vaccinated at week 0) and BCG-BCG (vaccinated at weeks 0 and 56). Sixty-four weeks after the first vaccination, all animals were challenged with <i>Mycobacterium caprae</i> and examined post-mortem (pathology and bacterial load) at week 73. Antigen-specific interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) release was measured throughout the experiment. At week 59, peripheral blood mononuclear cells were stained for CD4, CD45RO and IFN-γ to determine the presence of antigen-specific cells secreting IFN-γ. The BCG-BCG group showed reductions in rectal temperatures, <i>M. caprae</i> DNA load in pulmonary lymph nodes (LN), the volume of lesions in pulmonary LN, mineralization in lungs, and higher weight gains compared to unvaccinated controls. IFN-γ responses were undetectable from 32 weeks after primary vaccination until revaccination, when the BCG-BCG group showed detectable IFN-γ production and a greater percentage of antigen-specific CD4<sup>+</sup>CD45RO<sup>+</sup>IFNγ<sup>+</sup> and CD4<sup>−</sup>CD45RO<sup>+</sup>IFNγ<sup>+</sup> cells compared to the BCG and control groups, which may be an indicator of the mechanisms of protection. Thus, re-vaccination of goats with BCG appears to prolong protection against infection with <i>M. caprae</i>.