Introduction: Coxiella (C.) burnetii, the aetiological agent of Q fever, is able to modulate the macrophage/T-lymphocyte axis in an infected organism and impair synthesis of monokines and lymphokines. Material and Methods: The purpose of this research was to determine the levels of the cytokines that play a key role in the response to C. burnetii antigens (IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, IL-10, IFN-γ and TNF-α) in the serum of animals originating from an infected herd prior to vaccination (day 0) and at 1, 7, and 21 days afterwards. Results: The vaccination of animals did not affect the production of IL-6, IL-1β, or IL-2. The serum levels of these cytokines were too low to measure in most of the samples. The initial levels of TNFα, IFNγ, and IL-10 were higher in seropositive than in seronegative animals, although significant differences between seropositive shedders and seropositive nonshedders appeared only in the levels of IFNγ and IL-10. Additionally, the course of the post-vaccination response concerning these two cytokines was different among seronegative nonshedders, seropositive nonshedders, and seropositive shedders. Conclusion: It seems that analysis of the IFNγ and IL-10 concentrations in animal blood serum may have some practical value in an assessment of the health status of seropositive animals and post-vaccination response.

Dengue is one of the major emerging viral diseases in the world, with dramatic increases in reported cases in the last few decades and annual worldwide occurrence of approximately 390 million infections. It is a highly important mosquito-vectored disease and is a problem in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. The major aim of this study was to clone and express the dengue NS3 gene, in service to its therapeutic importance for the development of stable cell lines. Blood samples from dengue fever (DF) patients were collected and subjected to PCR amplification of the NS3 gene of dengue virus serotype-2 (DENV-2). The NS3 gene was amplified using gene specific primers and cloned in the TA cloning vectors. The gene was successfully expressed in mammalian expression vector pcDNA3.1. The current finding was different from a previously reported DENV-2 strain replicon constructed in different cells, in which the whole genetic material of the virus was used instead of an active protease gene, and which gave a low yield of replicon expressing cells. Recombinant NS3 could be used to produce an antibody that is possibly helpful for developing a single step diagnostic assay to detect the dengue virus NS3 antigen in sera of dengue patients.

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and vesicular stomatitis (VS) cause such similar clinical signs and lesions that laboratory tests are required to distinguish between infections caused by each virus. Using mouse anti-foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) 3B monoclonal or polyclonal anti-vesicular stomatitis virus-New Jersey (VSV-NJ) antibodies and recombinant FMDV 3ABC or VSV-NJ glycoprotein (G) antigens coated to MagPlex beads, competitive Luminex immunoassays (cLIAs) were developed for FMDV and VSV-NJ, respectively. The cLIAs successfully detected antibodies to FMDV 3ABC and VSV-NJ G in sera from infected animals. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were 93% and 98%, respectively for FMDV and 93% and 95.4%, respectively for VSV-NJ. These cLIAs are potential alternatives for competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (cELISAs) and provide the opportunity for multiplexing to reduce time and the amount of serum required for testing.

To obtain immunogenic conjugate antigens, adipic acid dihydrazide (ADH), as a bridge, and 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimidehydrochloride (EDAC), as a coupling agent, were used to conjugate the purified fusion protein, clumping factor A-fibronectin binding protein ClfA A-FnBPA, and type 5 capsular polysaccharide (CP5). The conjugates were mixed with an adjuvant, and mice were immunized 3 times and challenged with Staphylococcus aureus 1 week later. Antibody titers were determined by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). At 14 days after the first immunization, antibodies against the purified protein and conjugate were detected; after 28 days, antibody levels increased; and a week after the third immunization, antibody levels continued to increase. However, the conjugate antibody titers were higher than those of the purified protein during the study, and no IgG antibodies against purified CP5 were detected during the entire experiment. The protection rate increased to 90% in the conjugate group, indicating that the conjugate imparts a relatively higher protective efficacy than the purified protein and purified CP5.

Salmonella stained antigen has been widely used in Malaysia for detection of Salmonella infection in poultry. Growth phase of four Salmonella enterica serovar Pullorum (SP 9-25, SP 14/11, SP 690/79 and SP 7107/07) used in the antigen production were investigated based on colony enumeration and turbidity. This study aimed to determine the growth curve and the difference between S. Pullorum isolates based on turbidity measurement and spread plate technique for optimisation towards biomass production of salmonella antigen using bioreactor. Current production of the antigen used conventional methods and the number of bacterial cells is low and with several other drawbacks. The isolates were cultured in nutrient broth, incubated aerobically with constant shake for 48 hours to determine the lag, exponential, stationary and the death phase of the bacteria. Turbidity of the bacterial cells was measured using spectrophotometer and the colony was counted using total plate count every four hours. Based on the colony forming unit per milliliter, SP 690/79 strain showed the fastest growth where this bacteria achieved its mid-exponential growth at 8 hours. This is followed by SP 14/11 where this strain demonstrated the mid-exponential growth at 12 hours. The other two strains (SP 9-25 and SP 7107-07) are the slowest growth where their mid-exponential growth was measured at 14 hours. However, SP 690/79also the fastest strain entering the death phase which demonstrates the difference growth of the S. Pullorum strains. This study demonstrates that each S. Pullorum strains multiplying and dying at different phase though in the same serovar.