%0 Journal Article
%T Use of a Th1 Stimulator Adjuvant for Vaccination against Neospora caninum Infection in the Pregnant Mouse Model
%A Thierry Monney
%A Denis Grandgirard
%A Stephen L. Leib
%A Andrew Hemphill
%J Pathogens
%D 2013
%I MDPI AG
%R 10.3390/pathogens2020193
%X Vertical transmission from an infected cow to its fetus accounts for the vast majority of new Neospora caninum infections in cattle. A vaccine composed of a chimeric antigen named recNcMIC3-1-R, based on predicted immunogenic domains of the two microneme proteins NcMIC1 and NcMIC3, the rhoptry protein NcROP2, and emulsified in saponin adjuvants, significantly reduced the cerebral infection in non-pregnant BALB/c mice. Protection was associated with a mixed Th1/Th2-type cytokine response. However, the same vaccine formulation elicited a Th2-type immune response in pregnant mice and did not prevent vertical transmission or disease, neither in dams nor in offspring mice. In this study, an alternative vaccine formulation containing recNcMIC3-1-R emulsified in Freund¡¯s incomplete adjuvant, a stimulator of the cellular immunity, was investigated. No protection against vertical transmission and cerebral infection in the pregnant mice and a very limited protective effect in the non-pregnant mice were observed. The vaccine induced a Th1-type immune response characterized by high IgG2a titres and strong IFN-¦Ã expression, which appeared detrimental to pregnancy.
%K Neospora caninum
%K vaccination
%K recombinant antigen
%K pregnancy
%K vertical transmission
%K cytokines
%K mouse model
%K abortion
%U http://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/2/2/193