Green propolis phenolic compounds act as vaccine adjuvants, improving humoral and cellular responses in mice inoculated with inactivated vaccines

Adjuvants play an important role in vaccine formulations by increasing their immunogenicity. In this study, the phenolic compound-rich J fraction (JFR) of a Brazilian green propolis methanolic extract stimulated cellular and humoral immune responses when co-administered with an inactivated vaccine against swine herpesvirus type 1 (SuHV-1). When compared to control vaccines that used aluminium hydroxide as an adjuvant, the use of 10 mg/dose of JFR significantly increased (p < 0.05) neutralizing antibody titres against SuHV-1, as well as the percentage of protected animals following SuHV-1 challenge (p < 0.01). Furthermore, addition of phenolic compounds potentiated the performance of the control vaccine, leading to increased cellular and humoral immune responses and enhanced protection of animals after SuHV-1 challenge (p < 0.05). Prenylated compounds such as Artepillin C that are found in large quantities in JFR are likely to be the substances that are responsible for the adjuvant activity.

CNS cholinergic innervation to the hippocampus in the rat using pseudorabies virus as a neurotracer

The hippocampus is a central area of the memory-related neural system. Combined immunohistochemistry against choline acetyl transferase and retrograde transneuronal labelling of the pseudorabies virus were used to identify cholinergic neurons in the central nervous system projecting to the hippocampal formation of the rat. Five to ten microL of Bartha strain of pseudorabies virus were injected into the dentate gyrus, CA1 and CA3 of the hippocampus of 20 Sprague Dawley rats using stereotaxic instrument. Forty eight to 96 hr after the injection, the brains were removed and the tissue sections were processed for double immunofluorescence procedure using polyclonal antibodies against pseudorabies virus or choline acetyl transferase. The double labelled neurons were distributed at several different nuclei and the labelling patterns of three different areas of the hippocampus were similar. These data suggests that the cholinergic innervation to the hippocampus were distributed in a transsynaptic manner throughout the whole brain area.

Ausência de anticorpos contra o vírus da doença de Aujeszky em suínos no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul / Absence of antibodies to Aujeszky virus in swine in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

A serological survey was carried out on 16.305 swine sera collected over a eight year period (1987-1994) from various municipalities of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in search for antibodies to Aujeszky's disease virus (ADV), using ELISA and serum neutraliozation tests. All sera examined were negative for ADV antibodies. These results suggest that ADV is not present in an enzootic form in swine in that State

Non-pathogenic strains of Aujeszky's disease virus are not reactivated in swine after corticosteroid treatment

The Bartha-K and NIA-4 strain of Aujeszky's disease virus (ADV) were readily isolated from oropharyngeal swabs up to 7 days after intranasal vaccination of young piglets. Neither strain could be reisolated 14 days after starting treatment with 10 mg of the corticosteroid isoflupredone acetate per kg of body weight, administered intramuscularly for 4 consecutive days when pigs were 7-9 months of age. Similar treatment with corticosteroid pigs infected with two virulent ADV strains resulted in the reactivation of infection and recovery of ADV from oropharyngeal swabs. Serum neutralizing antibodies were present in all pigles vaccinated twice (2 week interval) intranasally with the attenuated ADV strains, 4 weeks after primary vaccination. However, these antibodies were no longer detectable in some pigs at 12(NIA-4) and 20(Bartha-K) weeks of age even in undilluted sera. Neutralizing antibodies resulting from infection virulent ADV were always detectable, were higher in titer than those produced by the vaccine strains and did not vary in a clear pattern after corticosteroid treatment. These results indicated that the Bartha-K and NIA-4 strains undergo little or no latency in swine and confirm the latency of virulent strains of ADV

Experimental vaccination of rabbits with non-pathogenic strains of Aujeszky's disease virus

1. The Bartha K and NIA-4 strains of Aujeszky's disease virus (ADV) were non-pathogenic for rabbits vaccinated once or twice by nasal instillation or intramuscular injection. Neutralizing antibodies were detected in 68% of the rabbits two weeks after primary vaccination and in al rabbits at challenge. 2. Challenge doses of virulent ADV greater than 10**5.0 median tissue culture infective doses (TCID50) resulted in the death of most vaccinated and all unvaccinated rabbits with typical signs of Aujeszky's disease withing 4 days. ADV was recovered from braim and lung suspensions of vaccinated and unvaccinated rabbits who had died as a result of the challenge. 3. When the challenge dose was reduced to approximately 10**3.0 TCID50, rabbits vaccinated twice survived while al unvaccinated controls died within 3 days