Schering-Plough Animal Health Corp.

Groups of 15 laboratory-bred beagles were vaccinated and boosted with either a placebo or adjuvanted bivalent bacterin comprised of a traditionalBorrelia burgdorferistrain and a uniqueospA- andospB-negativeB. burgdorferistrain that expressed high levels of OspC and then challenged withB. burgdorferi-infectedIxodes scapularisticks. The vaccinated dogs produced high titers of anti-OspA and anti-OspC borreliacidal antibodies, including borreliacidal antibodies specific for an epitope within the last seven amino acids at the OspC carboxy terminus (termed OspC7) that was conserved among pathogenicBorreliagenospecies. In addition, spirochetes were eliminated from the infected ticks that fed on the bacterin recipients,B. burgdorferiwas not isolated from the skin or joints, and antibody responses associated specifically with canine infection withB. burgdorferiwere not produced. In contrast,B. burgdorferiwas recovered from engorged ticks that fed on 13 (87%) placebo-vaccinated dogs (P< 0.0001), skin biopsy specimens from 14 (93%) dogs (P< 0.0001), and joint tissue specimens from 8 (53%) dogs (P= 0.0022). In addition, 14 (93%) dogs developed specific antibody responses againstB. burgdorferiproteins, including 11 (73%) with C6 peptide antibodies (P< 0.0001). Moreover, 10 (67%) dogs developed Lyme disease-associated joint abnormalities (P< 0.0001), including 4 (27%) dogs that developed joint stiffness or lameness and 6 (40%) that developed chronic joint inflammation (synovitis). The results therefore confirmed that the bacterin provided a high level of protection against Lyme disease shortly after immunization.

Healthy dogs with low antibody titer to Bordetella bronchiseptica were vaccinated intranasally with an avirulent live vaccine, subcutaneously with an antigen extract vaccine, or subcutaneously and intranasally with a placebo. Intranasally vaccinated dogs developed B. bronchiseptica-specific IgA titers in nasal secretions that remained at high levels until the end of the study; dogs vaccinated subcutaneously with the antigen extract or placebo did not develop measurable antigen-specific IgA titers in nasal secretions. Dogs were challenged with virulent live B. bronchiseptica 63 days after vaccination. Intranasally vaccinated dogs had significantly lower cough scores (P < or =.0058) and shed significantly fewer challenge organisms (P <.0001) than dogs in either of the other groups. Cough scores of subcutaneously vaccinated dogs were not significantly different from placebo-vaccinated dogs.

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