Effects of Different Adjuvants on the Protective Efficacy of a Subcellular Vaccine Against <i>Chlamydia abortus</i> Infection in Sheep

Background/Objective: Recently, we published three studies describing the development and optimization of a new, safe, and efficacious vaccine to protect sheep from ovine enzootic abortion, which is caused by the zoonotic pathogen <i>Chlamydia abortus</i>. The vaccine, which can be deliv...

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Main Authors: Morag Livingstone, Kevin Aitchison, Javier Palarea-Albaladejo, Sergio Gastón Caspe, Clare Underwood, Holly Hill, Cameron Cunnea, Kelly Stronach, Francesca Chianini, Gary Entrican, Sean Ranjan Wattegedera, David Longbottom
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Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Vaccines
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/13/6/609
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author Morag Livingstone
Kevin Aitchison
Javier Palarea-Albaladejo
Sergio Gastón Caspe
Clare Underwood
Holly Hill
Cameron Cunnea
Kelly Stronach
Francesca Chianini
Gary Entrican
Sean Ranjan Wattegedera
David Longbottom
author_facet Morag Livingstone
Kevin Aitchison
Javier Palarea-Albaladejo
Sergio Gastón Caspe
Clare Underwood
Holly Hill
Cameron Cunnea
Kelly Stronach
Francesca Chianini
Gary Entrican
Sean Ranjan Wattegedera
David Longbottom
author_sort Morag Livingstone
collection DOAJ
description Background/Objective: Recently, we published three studies describing the development and optimization of a new, safe, and efficacious vaccine to protect sheep from ovine enzootic abortion, which is caused by the zoonotic pathogen <i>Chlamydia abortus</i>. The vaccine, which can be delivered through a single inoculation, is based on a detergent-extracted outer membrane protein (chlamydial outer membrane complex or COMC) preparation of the pathogen. This study aimed to optimize the vaccine further by comparing the effects of different adjuvants on protective efficacy. Methods: We evaluated the effectiveness of three different vaccines (2.5 µg COMC) formulated with one of three adjuvants (Montanide ISA 70VG, Montanide ISA 61VG, and QuilA) to reduce the rate of abortion, placental load and pathology, and post-partum vaginal shedding of organisms in comparison to our benchmark 20 µg COMC/Montanide ISA 70 VG vaccine and a challenge control group of animals. The humoral and cellular immunological responses to vaccination and to challenge were also assessed. Results: The two low-dose Montanide formulated vaccines resulted in low abortion rates of 3.2 and 8.1% for ISA 70 VG and ISA 61 VG, respectively, which were comparable to the benchmark vaccine group (2.7%) and considerably lower than the QuilA (23.7%) and challenge control (36.8%) groups. Similarly, the Montanide-adjuvanted groups had much lower bacterial loads (range: 136–431 genome copies) on vaginal swabs post-parturition than the QuilA (8.9 × 10<sup>4</sup> copies) and challenge control (2.4 × 10<sup>5</sup> copies) groups. Conclusions: The results showed that both Montanide adjuvants are more effective for maximizing COMC vaccine efficacy than the QuilA adjuvant and result in much lower bacterial shedding of the pathogen post-parturition, which is important for minimizing potential transmission to naïve animals.
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spelling doaj-art-a06e4fdf44d24ba7903a9a69e320c1772025-08-20T03:32:28ZengMDPI AGVaccines2076-393X2025-06-0113660910.3390/vaccines13060609Effects of Different Adjuvants on the Protective Efficacy of a Subcellular Vaccine Against <i>Chlamydia abortus</i> Infection in SheepMorag Livingstone0Kevin Aitchison1Javier Palarea-Albaladejo2Sergio Gastón Caspe3Clare Underwood4Holly Hill5Cameron Cunnea6Kelly Stronach7Francesca Chianini8Gary Entrican9Sean Ranjan Wattegedera10David Longbottom11Moredun Research Institute, Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 0PZ, UKMoredun Research Institute, Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 0PZ, UKBiomathematics and Statistics Scotland, Edinburgh EH9 3FD, UKMoredun Research Institute, Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 0PZ, UKMoredun Research Institute, Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 0PZ, UKMoredun Research Institute, Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 0PZ, UKMoredun Research Institute, Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 0PZ, UKMoredun Research Institute, Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 0PZ, UKMoredun Research Institute, Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 0PZ, UKMoredun Research Institute, Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 0PZ, UKMoredun Research Institute, Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 0PZ, UKMoredun Research Institute, Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 0PZ, UKBackground/Objective: Recently, we published three studies describing the development and optimization of a new, safe, and efficacious vaccine to protect sheep from ovine enzootic abortion, which is caused by the zoonotic pathogen <i>Chlamydia abortus</i>. The vaccine, which can be delivered through a single inoculation, is based on a detergent-extracted outer membrane protein (chlamydial outer membrane complex or COMC) preparation of the pathogen. This study aimed to optimize the vaccine further by comparing the effects of different adjuvants on protective efficacy. Methods: We evaluated the effectiveness of three different vaccines (2.5 µg COMC) formulated with one of three adjuvants (Montanide ISA 70VG, Montanide ISA 61VG, and QuilA) to reduce the rate of abortion, placental load and pathology, and post-partum vaginal shedding of organisms in comparison to our benchmark 20 µg COMC/Montanide ISA 70 VG vaccine and a challenge control group of animals. The humoral and cellular immunological responses to vaccination and to challenge were also assessed. Results: The two low-dose Montanide formulated vaccines resulted in low abortion rates of 3.2 and 8.1% for ISA 70 VG and ISA 61 VG, respectively, which were comparable to the benchmark vaccine group (2.7%) and considerably lower than the QuilA (23.7%) and challenge control (36.8%) groups. Similarly, the Montanide-adjuvanted groups had much lower bacterial loads (range: 136–431 genome copies) on vaginal swabs post-parturition than the QuilA (8.9 × 10<sup>4</sup> copies) and challenge control (2.4 × 10<sup>5</sup> copies) groups. Conclusions: The results showed that both Montanide adjuvants are more effective for maximizing COMC vaccine efficacy than the QuilA adjuvant and result in much lower bacterial shedding of the pathogen post-parturition, which is important for minimizing potential transmission to naïve animals.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/13/6/609<i>Chlamydia abortus</i>ovine enzootic abortionvaccine developmentvaccine efficacygross placental pathologyquantitative real-time PCR
spellingShingle Morag Livingstone
Kevin Aitchison
Javier Palarea-Albaladejo
Sergio Gastón Caspe
Clare Underwood
Holly Hill
Cameron Cunnea
Kelly Stronach
Francesca Chianini
Gary Entrican
Sean Ranjan Wattegedera
David Longbottom
Effects of Different Adjuvants on the Protective Efficacy of a Subcellular Vaccine Against <i>Chlamydia abortus</i> Infection in Sheep
Vaccines
<i>Chlamydia abortus</i>
ovine enzootic abortion
vaccine development
vaccine efficacy
gross placental pathology
quantitative real-time PCR
title Effects of Different Adjuvants on the Protective Efficacy of a Subcellular Vaccine Against <i>Chlamydia abortus</i> Infection in Sheep
title_full Effects of Different Adjuvants on the Protective Efficacy of a Subcellular Vaccine Against <i>Chlamydia abortus</i> Infection in Sheep
title_fullStr Effects of Different Adjuvants on the Protective Efficacy of a Subcellular Vaccine Against <i>Chlamydia abortus</i> Infection in Sheep
title_full_unstemmed Effects of Different Adjuvants on the Protective Efficacy of a Subcellular Vaccine Against <i>Chlamydia abortus</i> Infection in Sheep
title_short Effects of Different Adjuvants on the Protective Efficacy of a Subcellular Vaccine Against <i>Chlamydia abortus</i> Infection in Sheep
title_sort effects of different adjuvants on the protective efficacy of a subcellular vaccine against i chlamydia abortus i infection in sheep
topic <i>Chlamydia abortus</i>
ovine enzootic abortion
vaccine development
vaccine efficacy
gross placental pathology
quantitative real-time PCR
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/13/6/609
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