ARS | Publication request: Antigen Recognition by Serum Antibodies in White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) Experimentally Infected with Mycobacterium Bovis

Submitted to: Wildlife Disease Association Annual Meeting
Publication Acceptance Date: August 27, 2004
Publication Date: August 27, 2004
Citation: Waters, W.R., Palmer, M.V., Bannantine, J.P., Whipple, D.L., Greenwald, R., Esfandiari, J., Pollack, J.M., Mcnair, J., Andersen, P., Lyashchencko, K. 2004. Antigen Recognition By Serum Antibodies In White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) Experimentally Infected With Mycobacterium Bovis[abstract]. Wildlife Disease Association. P. 299.

Technical Abstract: White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) have emerged as reservoirs of bovine tuberculosis (TB) in Northern America. For TB surveillance of captive deer, antibody-based assays are particularly attractive because deer are handled only once and immediate processing of the sample is not required. Sera collected sequentially from 24 Mycobacterium bovis-infected and 7 non-infected deer were evaluated by ELISA, immunoblotting, and Multi-Antigen Print Immunoassay (MAPIA) for immunoglobulin specific to M. bovis antigens. Various routes of experimental M. bovis infection, such as intratonsilar inoculation (n = 11), by aerosol (n = 6), and exposure to infected deer (in contact, n = 7), were studied. Upon infection, specific bands of reactivity at ~24-26 kDa, ~33 kDa, ~42 kDa and ~75 kDa to M. bovis whole cell sonicate were detected by immunoblot. Lipoarabinomannan-specific immunoglobulin was detected as early as 36 days postchallenge and responses were detected for 18/19 intratonsilar and in contact infected deer. In MAPIA, sera were tested with 12 native and recombinant antigens coated on nitrocellulose. All 'in contact' infected (8/8) and 10/11 intratonsilarly-infected deer produced antibody reactive with one or more of the recombinant/native antigens. Responses were boosted by injection of tuberculin for intradermal tuberculin skin testing. Additionally, 3/6 deer receiving a very low dose of M. bovis via aerosol exposure produced antibody specific to one or more recombinant proteins. M. bovis was not isolated from 2/3 non-responding aerosol-challenged deer. Of the 12 antigens tested, the most immunodominant protein was MPB83; however, a highly sensitive serodiagnostic test will likely require use of multiple antigens.