Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2022, Vol. 53 ›› Issue (3): 883-893.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2022.03.021

• PREVENTIVE VETERINARY MEDICINE • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Preliminary Observation on the Immunoprotective Effects of Recombinant Surface Antigens SAG13 and SAG14 of Eimeria stiedae in Rabbits

LUO Yuejun1, REN Yongjun2,3, BAI Xin1, CHEN Hao1, PU Jiayan1, ZHENG Ruoyu1, XIAO Jie1, YANG Guangyou1*   

  1. 1. College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130;
    2. Sichuan Animal Science Academy, Chengdu 610066, China;
    3. Animal Breeding and Genetics Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu 610066, China
  • Received:2021-07-12 Online:2022-03-23 Published:2022-03-31

Abstract: This experiment was conducted to observe the immunoprotective effects of the prokaryotic expression products of surface antigens SAG13 and SAG14 of Eimeria stiedae in rabbits. We analyzed the transcription level of Es-SAGs in unsporulated oocyst stage, sporulated oocyst stage, schizogony stage and gametogony stage by relative fluorescence quantitative PCR, and expressed Es-SAG specifically expressed in the schizogony stage. Then forty 45-day-old coccidia-free rabbits were randomly divided into four groups:blank control group (B), parasite challenge control group (P), rEs-SAG13 immunization group (SAG13) and rEs-SAG14 immunization group (SAG14). Rabbits of group B, group P, group SAG13 and group SAG14 were subcutaneously injected with 1 mL PBS, 1 mL PBS, 1 mL 100 μg·mL-1 rEs-SAG13 and 1 mL 100 μg·mL-1 rEs-SAG14, respectively, then the same amount of booster immunity was given after 14 days. Two weeks after the second immunization, 1×104 sporulated oocysts were infected orally in all groups except group B. Three weeks after infection, the differences of clinical symptoms, oocyst excretion, relative weight gain, feed conversion ratio, liver index and liver lesions were observed in each group. Results revealed that the transcription level of Es-SAGs at each stage is significantly different, and SAG13 and SAG14 are members that are specifically expressed in schizogony stage. The rEs-SAG13 and rEs-SAG14 have good reactogenicity. The typical symptoms of rabbit hepatic coccidiosis appeared in the control group, while the symptoms of the other groups were not obvious. The oocyst reduction rates of rEs-SAG13 immunization group and rEs-SAG14 immunization group were 82.8% and 51.9%, respectively. The average relative weight gain of immune group was significantly higher than that of parasite challenge control group. There were significant differences in liver index and liver lesion score between rEs-SAG13 immunization group and parasite challenge control group. However, there was no significant difference in liver index and liver lesion score between rEs-SAG14 immunization group and parasite challenge control group (P<0.05). These results indicated that rEs-SAG13 and rEs-SAG14 can reduce weight gain loss and oocyst output in varying degrees, alleviate liver lesions, but rEs-SAG13 is more effective.

Key words: Eimeria stiedae, surface antigens, surface antigen 13, surface antigen 14, prokaryotic expression, immunoprotective

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